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Has anyone noticed lately that there is a lot of commotion going on just east of Toys-R-US on Rogers Ave.?  That commotion is the construction of the latest retailer to join the ranks in Fort Smith,

Safety Kleen: Fort Smith Operation Shuts Doors

Safety Kleen, Inc. closed the sale of their Fort Smith, AR facility on February 5, 2007 to Commercial Door and Hardware of Fort Smith, AR.  The sale was brokered by Eric Myers of R.H. Ghan Commercial Properties. 

6101 Prairie Drive is slated to be the new home for Anixter’s Fort Smith, AR operation. 

This last summer RH Ghan Commercial Properties was able to broker the deal for their new build to suit location.  The new location will boast twenty five foot wall heights which will provide the Tenant with maximum storage capacity.  Anixter’s move is slated for sometime in late February 07.

Arvest Bank, has announced the location of their new branch to be located at 1816 Garrison Ave. in downtown Fort Smith.  The negotiation of the bank site and an additional building located on 9^th and Rogers Ave was brokered by R.H. Ghan Commercial Properties and took nearly eight months to complete. The development will be quite unique for the downtown area as it will showcase a site that will couple commercial development with residential lofts.  Site Plan

Late last month, Brookstone  Apartments @ 6200 Phoenix Ave. were acquired by BRG Development, LLC.  BRG a local development company partnered with then sole proprietor E Corp. to begin redeveloping the property. 

       “The existing complexes were uninhabitable and needed to come down”, said Rodney Ghan, Operating Manager of BRG and Principal Broker of R.H. Ghan Commercial Properties.  Although the new development plans for the twenty one acre parcel are unknown at this time, there is no doubt that this piece of land will warrant the attention of new retail business as well as new office developments looking to locate in the Fort Smith area.

18320 Hwy 71 South, Greenwood, AR

 R.H. Ghan Commercial Properties is proud to offer 8.71 acers for sale on Hwy 71 South in Greenwood, AR.   This site formerly housed D&L Tool Distribution.

 In addition to 24,000/sf of manufacturing and warhouse space, this property offers an 1,800/sf house which could easily be converted to office.  The southern section of this property contains a large pond and thirty two storage units available for rent.

The owner will entertain dividing the property into two different tracts containing 2.8 acres(24,000/sf building) or 5.9 acers (house, pond, and storage units).

Over the last few years downtown Fort Smith, AR has been earmarked by the city for major restoration. Among some of the new developments downtown are the Fort Smith Amphitheater and Pavillion, The Town Club, Varsity Sports Grill, Rolondo's Restaurant, and Lahuerta Mexican Restaurant to name a few.

In addition to the referenced developments, local developer Benny Westphal is making plans for a casino and hotel with additional shopping and restaurants to complement the riverfront. With that being said, Garrison Ave. should see major redevelopment changes in the years to come.

Thinking about devoloping new office space in North West Arkansas?  You might think again.  According to the Reed Report (mid 2006), office space in NWA is not in short supply.

 Vacancy for this type of space is currently averaging around 15%  with an average asking price of $15.93sf.  These figures may raise questions with investors as whether to devote their dollars to retail projects instead.

 Retail space in this section of the state seems to be holding stronger with an average vacacy of 7.2% and an average asking price of $13.50sf.

At any rate, NWA continues to be a strong market for real estate development, but leads investors to wonder; How long can it last?

If you've driven Phoenix Ave. lately near Old Greenwood Rd., you've seen changes brought to this section of Fort Smith, AR.  It appears the removal of trees has marked the beginning  of development for Target. 

This development will be a great addition to the city of Fort Smith in that along with Target it will bring other big box retail tenants to the area.  Among the retailers considering  opening their doors in Fort Smith, AR are:

Belk's Department Store         Chico's

World Market                           Bed Bath & Beyond

Fort Smith, Arkansas based developer BRG Development, LLC is currently preleasing space in their new 110,000/sf retail shopping center (Rockwood Plaza) located adjacent to the newly constructed Wal-Mart Supercenter in Cabot, Arkansas. The new development will house mainly Big Box Tenants with smaller inline space to be built at a later date.