Rogers house building on rise

NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANTHONY REYES • @NWATONYR A couch is seen Friday along with other abandoned garbage in a vacant subdivision off First Street just south of New Hope Road. Housing development is picking up in Rogers and could possibly surpass building in years prior to the housing bubble burst of 2007. For photo galleries, go to nwadg.com/photos.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANTHONY REYES • @NWATONYR A couch is seen Friday along with other abandoned garbage in a vacant subdivision off First Street just south of New Hope Road. Housing development is picking up in Rogers and could possibly surpass building in years prior to the housing bubble burst of 2007. For photo galleries, go to nwadg.com/photos.

ROGERS -- The development of single-family lots in Rogers this year could surpass years prior to the housing bubble burst if things continue on track, city officials have said.

Plats for five new housing developments have been submitted to the city so far this year, said Darrel Smith, city senior planner. The plats would total 531 lots for single-family homes, if finalized. Ten years ago, in 2005, the city finalized plats for 464 lots, he said.

Building permits

Building permits for new single-family homes in Rogers from 2005 to 2014. Officials said there were no new plats submitted for about six years from 2007 to 2012.

• 2005 — 1,056

• 2006 — 915

• 2007 — 445

• 2008 — 213

• 2009 – 212

• 2010 — 230

• 2011 – 181

• 2012 — 309

• 2013 — 429

• 2014 – 349

Source: City of Rogers

Lot development dropped significantly in 2006, with 155 finalized, Smith said. Then in 2007, the city's planning commission stopped getting requests for plat approvals.

Smith said there were no plat requests for about six years in Rogers. It wasn't until 2013 when plats started making their way onto city planners' desks again, he said. Eight plats were submitted in 2013 totaling 200 lots. Another 10 plats were submitted in 2014 for a total of 257 lots.

As unfinished lots platted in previous years have become rare, the city has started to see a surge of new neighborhood plat submissions, Smith said.

"I know right now we are almost out of inventory of empty lots," Smith said. "Developers are now coming in here and wanting to develop more."

Smith said plans for several neighborhoods fell through when the recession hit nearly a decade ago. Today, there is only one platted but unfinished neighborhood that has not already been developed or in the process of being developed.

In that neighborhood, cushions lay scattered around a couch sitting in a vacant overgrown cul de sac on Friday. A vulture used one of the quiet dead-end streets to finish a meal in the neighborhood, just south of the intersection of New Hope Road and South First Street. Fire hydrants peek up from behind tall weeds and small trees.

The planned neighborhood was platted just before the housing bubble burst around 2007, Smith said. Utilities such as water and sewer, roads, curbs and gutters were completed in the neighborhood before the recession halted work, he said.

On the other hand, Chelsea Point II is an example of an undeveloped neighborhood getting a second chance.

First Western Bank owns the property northeast of Pleasant Grove Road and Eighth Street, said Kathy Smith, bank special assets coordinator. The property is under contract contingent on plat approval from Rogers Planning Commission, she said.

The bank has contracted Crafton Tull, a Rogers architecture and engineering firm, to start the plat process.

Daniel Ellis, company engineer, said the 83-lot subdivision could start construction fairly quickly after plat approval.

"Most of the utilities are already there and most of the dirt work was already done," Ellis said. "It sat idle for a long time and now we are coming in and finishing it up."

Smith said the focus is shifting to new neighborhood developments.

A majority of new homes in Rogers are being developed in the southwest corner of the city, officials said.

Rich Reaves, a developer of Shadow Valley, said ground work could start on a 78-lot single-family addition to the gated community by the end of this month.

Developers last platted lots in the neighborhood in 2007, Reaves said. New development of lots slowed down after that, he said. However, development of established lots continued slowly, he said.

"We are two-thirds of the way completed with lot development in Shadow Valley," Reaves said. "We will be doing a lot more development in the future."

Houses planned for the upcoming addition will be smaller than the previous homes built in the neighborhood, Reaves said. There are 589 houses in the neighborhood.

"The demand has been here for this particular segment of the market," Reaves said. "We are trying to satisfy that demand."

Houses could range from 1,800 to 2,250 square feet, Reaves said. He said they could cost in the upper $200,000 to $300,000 range. The houses will have options for custom changes meaning the exact size and prices are unknown, he said.

Rogers Mayor Greg Hines said it seems like many of the new homes being built in Rogers are near the price range of the Shadow Valley addition.

Hines said he is cautious to believe development will keep increasing. It is likely it could dip again before it levels off, he said.

"I think there is enough demand to consume what is coming online right now," Hines said. "But I do think there is a point where that number will turn down a little bit and become more of a true number."

Housing development is being driven by an increasing population in the region and Rogers, Hines said.

Rogers had a population of 39,912 during the 2000 United States Census. It grew to 55,964 by the 2010 census. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated its population at 60,112 in 2013.

The Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission has predicted Rogers' population to grow to 71,600 people by 2020 and 87,236 by 2030.

Hines said population growth brings more amenities to Rogers.

"It brings more opportunity for retail stores and restaurants people have been wanting," Hines said. "Many don't come to an area unless there are so many people living there."

NW News on 05/11/2015

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