Walgreens Eyes Bentonville Site

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

BENTONVILLE — The city might soon be getting its first Walgreens.

The Planning Commission approved plans Tuesday for a Walgreens at the northeast corner of Walton Boulevard and Southwest 14th Street. The plans await approval by the City Council.

The property is now has a Shell gasoline station, a Kobe Sushi & Grill restaurant and an office building that includes an Acambaro restaurant.

All of the buildings would be demolished if the proposal is approved.

Plans call for a 14,820 square-foot building with a drive-through window. Access to the site will be from entrance South Walton Boulevard and two new curb cuts off Southwest B Street. Two access points off Southwest 14th Street would be eliminated.

The building’s exterior would be brick. Seventy parking spaces would serve the development, according to plans.

Planner Beau Thompson said he didn’t know how soon the Walgreens project would begin.

Walgreens has four stores in Benton County. They include two in Rogers and one in both Bella Vista and Siloam Springs.

The proposed project would further change the look of one of the city’s busiest intersections. A convenience store with a gasoline station is being built on vacant land at the intersection’s northwest corner.