Colliers Seeing Big Pickup In Real Estate Transactions

The significant improvement commercial real estate broker Ramsay Ball speaks of isn’t just lip service.

At the northwest Arkansas office of Colliers International, year-to-date revenue from sales and leasing transactions is up 139 percent from the same period in 2011.

"You can see [the improvement] in the numbers," Ball said. "We see it in the number of leases, number of land transactions, every sector except for new [office or retail] development. But we think we’re on the cusp of that."

A few of the significant sales handled by the Colliers International group this year include:

• The sale of 24 condominium units in The Lofts at the Metro District at 600 W. Meadow St. in downtown Fayetteville for $2.7 million in January. The buyer was a local investor.
• The sale of 18.81 acres at Rochier Heights in Fayetteville for $1 million in May. The property will be used for a 180-unit student housing development known as The Vue. The buyer was an out-of-state development group.
• Acquisition of 17.64 acres on Horsebarn Road behind the The Shops at the Forum development in Bentonville for $1 million in May. Keypoint Church Inc. bought the property, with development plans calling for construction of a sanctuary and student facilities.

The most significant transaction this year, though, was a Benton County buy involving Sage Partners, Grub & Ellis-Solomon Partners and Colliers International.

Little Rock real estate developer Joe Whisenhunt paid Bank of America $19 million in cash for 375 acres of undeveloped property along the Interstate 540 corridor.

The three chunks of land – acreage in the Pinnacle Hills and Pleasant Crossing developments, as well as The Grove – were bought for an average cost of less than $1.25 per SF. BOA took ownership of the dirt as the result of foreclosure or forfeiture by groups that included local developers Gary Brandon, Charles Reaves, Bill Schwyhart and Robert Thornton.

Ball hailed the CRE transaction as the area’s most significant since the bubble burst.

(Positive Vibe Permeates NWA Real Estate Market)