Plans Submitted To Fayetteville For College Avenue Supermarket

Texas Company Denies Plans To Open Fayetteville Store

COURTESY ILLUSTRATION 
This is an architect’s drawing of what the Whole Foods Market proposed for Fayetteville will look like.
COURTESY ILLUSTRATION This is an architect’s drawing of what the Whole Foods Market proposed for Fayetteville will look like.

— A Whole Foods Market could be coming to Fayetteville.

A company that builds Whole Foods stores and other grocery store-anchored shopping centers across the country has submitted preliminary designs to the Planning Office for a development at 3535 N. College Ave.

At a Glance

Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods is a supermarket chain specializing in natural and organic foods. It is headquartered in Austin, Texas, where its first store opened in 1980. The company operates 373 stores in North America, including one in Little Rock, and the United Kingdom, and has 107 stores in development. The company is publicly traded on the NASDAQ as WFM and closed Tuesday at $51.38.

Source: wholefoodsmarket.com

The land, north of Lewis Ford and south of Millsap Road, has featured various car dealerships in recent years. Gerald Jones, who owns the lot, said it's being used as overflow parking for Lewis Ford on a month-by-month lease.

Jones wouldn't say if Whole Foods or the builder, S.J. Collins Enterprises of Fairburn, Ga., is planning to buy his property.

"It's not finalized at this point," Jones said.

Kristina Bradford, a spokeswoman for Whole Foods, said the Austin, Texas-based company has no immediate plans to locate in Fayetteville.

"We'd love to be a part of the community," Bradford said. "We just don't have any plans at this time."

Site plans submitted by S.J. Collins Enterprises show a 35,500-square-foot "major tenant" building with three smaller retail shops and 323 parking spaces on the 6.6-acre site in north Fayetteville. A preliminary drawing clearly identifies the major tenant as a Whole Foods Market.

Dan Tucker, an S.J. Collins representative listed on the city's large-scale development application, didn't respond to messages Tuesday.

Whole Foods specializes in natural and organic foods. Stores typically feature an extensive produce section, bakery, floral department and meat, cheese and seafood areas.

Ozark Natural Foods, a locally owned grocery cooperative in Fayetteville for more than 40 years, issued a news release Tuesday.

"We are excited to have another natural and organic food store here in Fayetteville," according to the release from Alexa McGriff, marketing director. "The more access that people have to healthy foods in our city, the better it is for our community."

City planners and engineers are scheduled to review technical aspects of the development during a 9 a.m. meeting April 16 at the City Administration Building, 113 W. Mountain St. The Planning Commission could consider large-scale development plans as early as May 12.

Commissioners are set Monday to review a possible variance to the city's access management ordinance for the property.

Jesse Fulcher, senior city planner, said S.J. Collins is proposing two driveways on College Avenue that aren't separated by more than 250 feet.

A stoplight might be added at Masonic Drive, about 500 feet from a traffic signal at Millsap Road.

NW News on 04/09/2014

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