Applegate Hills, is a refreshingly unique blend of premier shopping, dining,
entertainment, multi-family, hotel and convention center with over 1.1 million square feet of building area.
This 70 acre "planned urban development" is the only one of its kind
in the Northwest Arkansas Area or commonly known as NWA and is complimented by nature's own
beauty - the scenic Ozarks.
Applegate Hills is only eight blocks
from the home office of the largest company in the world – Wal-Mart. In
fact, 8th Street runs from the front door of Wal-Mart directly to the southern
border of Applegate Hills. A 5-lane expansion of 8th Street has
already begun construction. Further, Applegate Hills is less than 2 miles from historic
downtown Bentonville square and only
two miles from Crystal Bridges National Art Museum www.crystalbridges.com.
Currently under construction, the 50-million dollar museum will bring an estimated 250,000 visitors a year and is scheduled
to open in late 2010 and will have a significant impact on Bentonville and
NW Arkansas.
The general site design of Applegate Hills evolved from the first meeting
between the architect – Miller, Boskus and Lack and the owner, Crown Jewel
Development, LLC. The team spent a considerable amount of time looking at
similar national "destination" outlets such as Branson Landing in
Branson, Missouri, DC Ranch in Scottsdale, Arizona, The Grove in Los Angeles,
California and the Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas.
Applegate Hills overall architectural theme
was decided by combining Arkansas's most precious resource, its native stone together with contemporary metals,
woods and steel to create a dynamic vibrant feel. The main pedestrian
pathway meandering throughout the intimate boutique retail and commercial areas
will have a "European" flair combined with a flowing "river"
of cascading waterfalls to ultimately capture the essence of Arkansas - the
"natural" state.
Applegate Hills is the only destination center of its kind
in the region and given its close
proximity to Wal-Mart’s headquarters, plans to service the influx of business vendors,
suppliers and service companies that come to Bentonville on a daily basis from around the world.
Further, headquarters of other national companies such as J.B. Hunt trucking and Tyson
Chicken are also
within a 10 mile radius. The site is bordered by Highway 72, a three lane
roadway to the north and has access to the east to Southwest "O"
street and most importantly, will have access to the south via proposed 8th
Street. 8th street goes directly to the front door of Wal-Mart
headquarters. Ultimately, 8th street will be five lanes wide from
Applegate Hills to Wal-Mart and then easterly another 4 miles to Interstate
540.
Anchored by a five-star full service hotel, an
extended stay hotel and an 80,000 s.f. business, sports and entertainment
convention center. Given its close proximity to the headquarters of
Wal-Mart, the new Crystal Bridges Museum and current area growth patterns, the
AGH design team has planned for future hotel expansion. .
Applegate Hills is excited to bring the
first ever convention center to Bentonville. Based upon a study in 1999 by CS&L - Convention Sports and
Leisure, the market analysis indicates that a facility of this size could
utilize a variety of events which include Wal-Mart vendor meetings, various
types of entertainment and musical talent from all around the world, national
expo's, tradeshows, etc. Further, approximately 70 percent of the state event
planners surveyed indicated that their group's primary event
requires a hotel directly adjacent to the convention
facility. From a development standpoint, AGH believes the convention
center will be the "demand generator" for Applegate Hills.
Applegate Hills plans to transform an existing
on-site pond by adding elegant water features, a romantic gondola ride
attraction and spectacular mood lighting. An existing "dry" creek
meanders along the western border and will include scenic walking paths, hiking
trails, community garden center, contemplation areas and community dog park.
Unique one-of-a-kind retail and commercial tenants along with established
local and national restaurant tenants have been strategically located adjacent
to the hotel-convention center or Zone C per the site map. Multiple
pedestrian access paths have been designed so the consumer can easily navigate
between the two. A main "view corridor" axis bisects the convention
center entrance through the center point of the large round town square stage to
the project sign fronting highway 72.
The site topography has distinct features such as natural tree buffers,
gentle rolling terrain, a natural pond, a dry-creek and a dry
drainage depression which traverses the property from east to west. The owners
decided to work with the natural terrain and build vertical on each side of the
depression thereby creating a pedestrian path between the retail buildings. A
series of ponds and waterfalls were added to provide a more "natural"
ambience since Arkansas is called the "natural" state.
Class A type office space will be designed to
meet the ever growing Wal-Mart vendors while the proposed multi-family
residential space will accommodate the young executive, growing family or retiring couple who want
a simple life. AGH strategically designed the main road for the project to
"loop" around the hotel,
convention center and major retail and commercial areas. This allows pedestrian flow to
each area without any interruption. This is a vital
and key component to the intimate design of Applegate Hills.
A vibrant and energetic feel was determined to be the common denominator for
all of the other successful "destination" centers researched. Envision
as male or female vendor executives head to a meeting at the convention center while
others shop, enjoy the salon/spa or simply spend quality time with their children as
teens go to the gaming center and an elderly couple sit at one of the many
outside terraces, enjoying a ice-cream cone and people watch.
While Wal-Mart has an overwhelming influence in Bentonville, employing more
than 16,000 residents, most of who travel directly in front of Applegate Hills
(traffic count is 11,000 cars per day), many other Fortune 500 companies have
offices in town, providing diversity and robust financial influence to the local economy.
Talamore Estates, the most exclusive large acre estate residential
subdivision in Bentonville with homes ranging from 800k to 1.2 million is
directly 3-miles west of Applegate Hills. Tuscany Village, Highland Knolls, Versailles and other high end subdivisions are
also westerly of Applegate Hills.
Other project hi-lights are
Local commercial establishments such as Koffee Corner, Shogun Sushi,
Fred’s Hickory Inn Buffet, Piggles and Wiggles Day Care, Golf-Tec Golf
Shop have signed a letter of intent to become part of Applegate
Hills.
Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport (XNA) is only 10 minutes away and
has 17 national airline carriers with direct flights to major cities
throughout the country.
MSN Real estate just named the NW Arkansas area as the number one
small city in America with a low cost of living, good job prospects and
a high quality of life. The area boasts five-year job growth of 26.1%
and a low unemployment rate of 3.5%.
Approximately 500 Wal-mart vendors and
suppliers fly in every day and typically stay 3-5 days.
Bentonville is ranked in the top ten by Forbes
magazine and Milken Institute as one of the fastest and best quality of life
cities in the country.
The Arkansas Parks and Tourism departments’ annual report shows that
Arkansas is continuing to see more tourists – 23 million in 2006 compared to 21.8 million in 2005.
