BENTONVILLE -- Another housing option will be available adjacent the city's Arts District as the Planning Commission approved plans for a condo development Tuesday.
The commission voted 7-0 in favor of the plan that includes four condo units at northwest corner of the intersection of Southwest B and Southwest Fifth streets.
The Bentonville Planning Commission met Tuesday and approved:
• Lot split at 222 and 228 S.E. 2nd St.
• Rezoning 504 S.E. E St. from single family residential to central residential moderate density.
Source: Staff Report
The building will be just west of the Arts District as Southwest B Street is its western border.
Jake Newell of Newell Development is the project's representative. Pubside Holdings is the applicant.
The units will range in size from 1,130 square feet to 1,429 square feet, according to the planning staff report. Seven parking spaces will be provided. Five will be on-street spaces and two will be off-street spaces.
The development is a nice fit for that location as it's only one block away from Southwest A Street, which is growing into a mixed-use corridor where the city is hoping to attract commercial, office and residential uses, Troy Galloway, community and economic development director, said after the meeting.
It's important to have higher density residential options a block off that corridor to help support the amenities on it as it grows, he added.
"These condos are a great fit because it does increase the density while also maintaining a really strong neighborhood character," he said. "You're adding character, you're adding value, you're adding density, which is very valuable in an area where we're trying to redevelop."
Plans include an eight-foot-wide sidewalk with street trees along the frontages on Southwest B and Southwest Fifth streets. The building's exterior will be made of brick, board and panel siding and corrugated metal accent panels.
Varied material to building's exteriors help alleviate potential monotony that can come with multi-family housing developments and, in turn, add value to a neighborhood, Galloway said.
"This is a nice balance of accommodating the density that we're asking for an trying to achieve while preserving the character of the neighborhood," he said.
Newell Development has other development projects in downtown Bentonville. It recently finished three row homes at 414, 416 and 418 S.W. B St. All three are listed as for sale on the company's website.
They are priced in the "$400k range."
Newell Development has also played a role in the revitalization of south Fayetteville since 2009 by constructing homes and townhouses on Block Street, Church Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and other areas, according to its website.
NW News on 10/07/2015