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Marshall Saviers on What’s Missing from Northwest Arkansas’ Growth Experience

3 min read

Marshall Saviers, 37, joined his father’s real estate firm, Irwin & Saviers in 2004, shortly after graduating from Southern Methodist University with a bachelor’s in business administration. When Mark Saviers dissolved Irwin & Saviers to form Sage Partners with Brian Shaw in 2005, Marshall Saviers followed.

Saviers is now president of Sage Partners, where he oversees brokerage operations for the company and helped facilitate the 2017 merger between Sage Partners, Hunt Ventures of Lowell and Capital Partners of Little Rock. He is a member of the Northwest Arkansas Council’s executive committee.

What is the state of the northwest Arkansas real estate market?
The market has been very strong for the past 4-5 years. It does feel more sustainable than during the last “boom” because it’s mostly user-driven rather than speculative. There is not a glut of commercial space in the desired areas and actually more demand than supply in those areas.

Sale prices and rental rates continue to climb in the desired spots, as well. If you look at the overall northwest Arkansas economy statistics — 33 people a day moving in, 2.5 percent unemployment, etc. — we are certainly better positioned than in the past. However, due to the low unemployment numbers we have a skilled labor shortage in northwest Arkansas that needs to be solved in order for the market to continue to grow. This is something the Northwest Arkansas Council is very focused on presently.

What does northwest Arkansas need to continue its growth?
We need to continue adding to the cultural aspect that will draw millennials and increase the talent pool. Luckily, we have a lot of people in the area focused on this, and have made great strides in the last few years.

Businesses want to be located on or near the Razorback Greenway. They also want to be near cultural amenities such as Crystal Bridges and the Bentonville Square. Sage does a lot of work in the Pinnacle area of Rogers and is working on bringing additional amenities to that area, as detailed in the recent announcement of a large “new urbanism” development. It will be mostly multifamily residential and boutique retail, with walking trails, open space and a variety of other walkable amenities.

These type of developments are becoming more commonplace in the region, and help draw [and] retain talent.

Are there any areas of concern with the current market?
Real estate (like everything) is cyclical, so you know there will be a downturn. It’s just hard to say when. Most likely it will be something national or international that causes it rather than locally. Also, we are short on skilled labor which affects all areas of our local economy.

Do you have a favorite deal you closed or took part in?
The building we developed for BNSF Logistics in Springdale was most interesting for me personally. It wasn’t the largest deal I’ve completed, but we were involved from the start of the process of acquiring the land, working with BNSF in designing the building and through construction.

Additionally, I really like the location near Arkansas Children’s Northwest and Arvest Ballpark. We are continuing to do more work in that area.

What did you learn watching your dad do this job when you were young? Did you ever consider doing anything else?
Honestly, I fought going into real estate growing up. It seemed boring when I was in the back of the car looking at warehouses and office buildings. What I found after interning in college for a real estate firm was that it really suited me. I’m lucky that my dad is a partner of mine and I can learn from him in business, but most importantly on life issues. He’s been an awesome role model for me on how to be a father and husband.

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