BENTONVILLE — Residents in the southwest part of the city will have a new option for their grocery trips when a Walmart Neighborhood Market opens this fall.
The development was announced Monday at the Bentonville-Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce by city officials and Walmart leaders. The event was initially set to be held at the future store location on the northwest corner of Southwest I Street and Southwest Regional Airport Boulevard, but thundering skies and steady rain moved the announcement indoors.
Southwest Bentonville has consistently grown over the past decade with housing developments, new schools and a planned community center in the quadrant. Mayor Bob McCaslin envisions the area will continue to be a focal point of growth over the next decade.
At A Glance
Environmentally Friendly
The new Walmart Neighborhood Market will include:
• Features to reduce energy and water consumption
• LED lighting in exterior signs and refrigeration cases
• An energy management system
• Efficient heating and cooling units
Source: Walmart
City infrastructure improvements, including the community center and a revamped Southwest I Street and Airport Boulevard, has helped draw development to the area. The I Street project was completed earlier this year, and is the largest single project ever embarked upon by the city.
“The infrastructure and foresight of the city is what made this happen,” said Brian Hooper, vice president of real estate for Walmart.
Hooper said Walmart began acquiring land for the development in 2006, but the project was paused during the economic downtown in the years that followed.
McCaslin said the Neighborhood Market will be one more asset to draw people to southwest Bentonville, which he termed an “underserved” area.
“This will make southwest Bentonville a better place to live,” McCaslin said.
Construction on the 41,179-square-foot market is expected to begin in 60 to 90 days, Hooper said. The company plans an “aggressive” construction schedule wrapping up in the fall.
The new store will bring 65 jobs to the area, according to a news release.
The 5.5-acre site includes a gasoline station and parking lot with green spaces. Several lots to the west and south will be cleared for future commercial development. Walmart does not own the lots “at this time,” Hooper said.
A new street named Southwest Eden Brooke Street will be built just to the west of the development, Hooper said. The street will be accessed from Southwest Regional Airport Boulevard.
The store will be the second Neighborhood Market in Bentonville, joining a market at 3510 S.E. 14th St. A third Neighborhood Market is planned for downtown Bentonville in the Midtown Shopping Center.
The downtown project is expected to get under way as early as May. The current shopping center will be razed to make way for a three-story multiuse building with the Neighborhood Market, office space, retail shops and a parking garage.
The Harps grocery store in the Midtown Shopping Center will move to a new site on North Walton Boulevard set to open in the spring.