SPRINGDALE : Identity shift creates dilemma
Posted on Monday, April 7, 2008
SPRINGDALE — Eric Edelstein, general manager of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, looks west from his office window and sees cows in a pasture. “I hope they’re not there in three years,” he said.
Edelstein, like many in Springdale, hopes commercial development sprouts around Arvest Ballpark. The centerpiece of a $ 50 million bond issue approved by voters in July 2006, the $ 32 million minor-league park is expected to drive investment west of Interstate 540.
With the exception of a rezoning request of 40 acres from agricultural to commercial, and plans by one landowner to erect a welcome sign, so far nothing has appeared before the Springdale Planning Commission.
Edelstein expects that to change soon.
“We have our ear to the ground,” Edelstein said. “We hear things.” Phil Taldo, the owner of the pasture outside Edelstein’s office, is confident the cattle are grazing on borrowed time.
Taldo didn’t name names, but said he has met with landowners nearby, which include the Tyson, George and Shaw families and Claypool Farm.
“I’ve had conversations with several of the stakeholders, and they’re talking about a master plan for the area,” Taldo said. “The master plan would not be funded by the city.” He expects serious negotiations to begin in the next few months. An important element of the privately funded study is market research to determine how quickly the area should be developed.
The landowners likely would create a Planned Unit Develop- ment, which would go before the Springdale Planning Commission on a regular basis. The development would lean toward a mix of retail, office and multifamily spaces, Taldo said. Taldo also cited “numerous conversations” regarding the construction of an entertainment arena, but said nothing is imminent. Also in the mix are hotels and restaurants. “I never thought [Arvest ] was the total answer to the economic development of west Springdale,” he said.
OTHER OPTIONS Situated on the west side of the ballpark, Taldo’s property is slightly less attractive to investors than the land visible from I-540. But Taldo isn’t worried about a development pecking order.
“I don’t get eaten up by what’s going in where,” he said. “I just want it to start happening.” In part, growth around Arvest could look something like what’s happening in Fort Wayne, Ind.
In 2007, the City Council there authorized construction of a ballpark, high-rise parking deck, condominium complex and hotel.
The overall project, Harrison Square, is being built downtown. Funded with public and private money, the site is expected to anchor new growth in the city, said Greg Leatherman, executive director of the Fort Wayne Redevelopment Commission.
Young professionals and married “empty nesters” have invested in condominiums above ground-level retail spaces, Leatherman said.
Arvest Ballpark will have 70 games a season, from April to September. If businesses such as restaurants and bars are to survive, Edelstein said, other amenities need to lure customers during the off-season and when the team is out of town.
A potential blueprint for west Springdale is in Frisco, Texas, home to the RoughRiders, the Class AA Texas League-affiliate of the Texas Rangers.
The team plays in Dr Pepper Ballpark, which opened in 2003. Since then, a furniture store, a 330-room hotel and the 90, 000-square-foot Frisco Conference Center have opened nearby.
Frisco, bolstered by the millions of residents in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, features other sports facilities such as a hockey rink, velodrome and Olympic pool.
What brings people and their money to Frisco is the cluster of other activities available, said Jim Gandy, president of the Frisco Economic Development Commission. “When you have more related venues, they generate energy and synergy,” Gandy said. “We attract a multitude of visitors to our city year-round.” BUILT FOR THE FUTURE Springdale, however, is different from Fort Wayne and Frisco. Northwest Arkansas is more rural and lacks the centralized population those other cities have. Plus, Arvest Ballpark has another problem: a lack of roads leading to the stadium.
Fans have one entrance, twolane 56 th Street from U. S. 412. The prevalent worst-case scenario has a traffic jam running from 56 th, east on U. S. 412 to the off-ramp at I-540. Possible improvements include widening 56 th Street, extending Watkins Avenue to Arkansas 112, widening Johnson Road from I-540 to 48 th Street, and building a new exit at I-540 and Oaklawn Drive.
Though access to the stadium is an issue, other important pieces of infrastructure are in place.
In 2007, Springdale Water Utilities installed large water and sewer lines and built a lift station that should be able to handle ballpark-area development for the next 20 years.
A 2006 bond issue included $ 820, 000 for water and sewer to serve the ballpark. The water utility had identified the area as needing infrastructure as early as 1992, said Rene Langston, executive director of the utility.
So the utility expanded the project to $ 3. 8 million and included a 15-inch sewer line, a 12-inch water line, two pump lines and the Wildcat Pump Station, which has future capacity to move 3, 150 gallons of effluent per minute.
“It’s sized for the future,” Langston said.
In a competitive environment, when as many as 40 cities try to land the same project, water and sewer improvements are an important selling point.
“It’s huge,” Taldo said. “That’s the lifeline for any development out there. If you don’t have the utilities, you’re not in the game.”
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
