When it's all said and done, developers have dreams a 200-acre tract of land in Jonesboro can be transformed into a prospering, mixed-use development where people can live, work and play.
The plot is owned by Greensboro Investments LLC of Jonesboro, which is run by Mickey Seeman and John Conner. It was purchased last year for around $5.4 million from the Frank Snellgrove family.
Halsey Thrasher Harpole, a commercial real estate and development company in Jonesboro, has been directly involved with the property for two years. It worked with the Snellgrove family to decide whether selling it or developing it was the best option, and when the decision was made to sell, it approached Greensboro Investments with the idea of a mixed-use development and the genesis of plans for the area.
After the firm purchased the land, Halsey Thrasher Harpole was hired on to develop the land.
The developers' master plan for the land, located at the intersection of U.S. 49 and Arkansas 351, includes extensive space for shops, offices and homes. Gary Harpole, managing partner of the real estate company, said there are planned uses for retail — both small shops and lifestyle centers — banking, restaurants, hotel, grocery, medical office, pharmaceuticals, assisted living and multi-family homes and single-family homes.
More: View the development's master plan here (PDF)
"You don't just find 200-acre tracts half a mile from Medical Mile, half a mile from Baptist Medical and across the street from Arkansas State University," Harpole told Arkansas Business. "This piece of land begged for something special, not just to develop the first 300 feet and see what happens."
Harpole said several letters of intent have been signed by retail tenants, and it's hoped the deals can be finalized and announced in the next four to six weeks. Even before the first construction starts, nearly $150,000 has been spent on land use and traffic impact studies.
"The investors in this project are adamant that we deliver a final product to the market that will set new standards in every category," Harpole said in a news release. "This will become a true destination point in northeast Arkansas.
The Next Steps
The rezoning of the plot of land is on the Jonesboro Metropolitan Area Planning Commission's agenda for Tuesday night.
The developers are hoping to reclassify the area from residential, R-1, and commercial, C-3, to Town Center Overlay District, TC-0. If it's approved by the planning commission, the measure would go to the Jonesboro City Council for final approval.
The first phases of construction will be commercial development and are hoped to begin this fall, Harpole said. Residential construction should start a year from now, he said.
There's no definitive estimate on time or cost, but the project is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take several years to complete.
There is also talk of a boulevard running through the center of the development, which is shown on the master plan, but all talks are still in the design phase.
