Wal-Mart Remains Mum on Plans for $2.1 Million Bentonville Property

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has not yet made public what it plans to do with a 10-acre piece of land it bought late last year for $2.1 million.

The retailer bought the property at 2400 S.E. S St. in Bentonville – due west of Sam’s Club home offices – from Chris Crossland of Crossland Construction Co. and John Lawrence of Lawrence Development Group.

Earlier in 2011 the two men put forth a large-scale development proposal to construct a two-story 222,000-SF warehouse and office facility at that location.

There’s been speculation that the site might one day be home to a new building for Wal-Mart’s apparel division.

Mark Scott, a public relations manager at Wal-Mart, said there were no immediate plans or timeline for developing the property.

That hasn’t stopped us from trying to figure it out.

A most interesting clue was presented during a recent Bentonville luncheon sponsored by the commercial real estate firm Colliers International.

During a PowerPoint presentation focusing on Bentonville, principal Butch Gurganus included a map of the location and professed the company’s belief that the site would be home to a new Sam’s Club Layout Center.

Sam’s leases space in Springdale in which to experiment with different retail displays.

Purely speculation, Gurganus said afterward, but the world’s largest retailer isn’t shelling out $2.1 million for 10 acres just to sit on it.