Work on NW plaza
to start in early '18
Construction of Parkway Plaza, a 27-acre mixed-use development in Springdale near Arkansas Children's Northwest hospital and Arvest Ballpark, is expected to begin early next year.
The property, located at the intersection of Don Tyson Parkway and Interstate 49, is being developed by Sage Partners and Southwest Springdale Forty-Nine LLC, according to a Thursday release. The project is valued at $180 million according to a group spokesman.
Plans call for Parkway Plaza to include commercial lots for sale suitable for hotels or restaurants, ground lease and built-to-suit options and multistory Class A office buildings, according to the release.
In the "Skyline Report" released last month, there was a little more than 945,000 square feet of office space available in Springdale at the year's midpoint, up slightly from the same period a year ago. There was 1.6 million square feet of retail space available in the city for the same period, up from 1.45 million for the first half of 2016.
-- John Magsam
Chicken live-weight
higher in September
National chicken slaughter weights rose in September, adding pressure to the overall meat market, according to business news publisher Urner Barry.
For the last week of September, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's slaughter report said the nation's average live weight was 6.25 pounds per bird, up 2.5 percent from August's average of 6.10 pounds.
Factors including relatively stable and low feed costs, along with strong consumer demand have encouraged companies to increase the weight of their chickens, said Travis Justice, chief economist for the Arkansas Farm Bureau.
"This is the third year in a row of record meats grown in this country," Justice said, referencing combined meat, pork and poultry totals. "Meaning, there's more meat on the market than ever before."
-- Nathan Owens
Arkansas index rises
0.75, ends at 372.91
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, rose 0.75 to 372.91 Thursday.
"Telecommunication and media stocks weighed on the market due to concerns of a drop in traditional video subscribers as earnings season for the third quarter begins this week," said Leon Lants, managing director at Stephens Inc. in Little Rock.
Total volume for the index was 26.5 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 10/13/2017