In the context of more than $100 million in commercial building permits issued so far for Northwest Arkansas this year, it would be easy to overlook the announcement that construction is about to begin on a 6,300-square-foot development in Fayetteville.
A national coffee shop/statewide orthodontist combo might not seem like much when considering the scope of other projects in the area. And it pales in comparison to what Haag Brown has been involved with in the opposite corner of the state.
Knowing how active the commercial real estate brokerage and development company has been in Jonesboro, though, the announcement caught my eye. Haag Brown, CBRE Northwest Arkansas and Flake Kelley of Little Rock were the major players in bringing the Starbucks/Arkansas Braces project to the Forest Hills development off of Weddington Avenue in Fayetteville.
Haag Brown's fingerprints have been on close to 30 national retail and restaurant developments in Jonesboro since 2010, when the firm opened. Currently Haag Brown has ongoing projects in Jonesboro and Paragould in Northeast Arkansas; Conway, Cabot and North Little Rock in central Arkansas; and now Fayetteville and Siloam Springs in the northwest corner.
Josh Brown, who founded the company with Greg Haag, acknowledged that for all the success the company has seen in Jonesboro and that corner of the state, he is intrigued by Northwest Arkansas. There's an "energy" there that is different from anything they've encountered elsewhere.
So it's possible the Fayetteville development and a similar space in Siloam Springs are just the start for Haag Brown in Benton and Washington counties. Finding a way to enter the Rogers market also has piqued their interest.
Ideally, additional projects in the region would mirror those currently underway. From Brown's perspective the optimum in Northwest Arkansas would be smaller-scale developments anchored by a nationally recognized restaurant or retail name and a local business that ordinarily wouldn't be able to garner such high-profile real estate. Though similar in size and scope, Brown said his hope would be to alter the look from project to project, something they've been able to do elsewhere.
It remains to be seen how much of an impact Haag Brown will have in Northwest Arkansas. Undoubtedly, though, Haag Brown has had a hand in significantly altering the landscape near its Jonesboro headquarters.
Consider a little more than a four-mile stretch between Arkansas State University and the new Northeast Arkansas Fairgrounds. Haag Brown, either as broker or developer, has been involved in all but one of the more than 20 commercial projects headed east on Johnson Avenue toward Paragould.
A relationship with NEA Baptist Memorial Hospital, which invested heavily to build a new campus in that area of Jonesboro allowed Haag Brown to get a jump on selling the area to retail and restaurant investors. Brown estimates up to $200 million has been invested in the area, in addition to the $173 million hospital that anchors the medical center. Add up the doctors offices and other related developments and Brown figures the medical community had spent more than $400 million for operations near the hospital.
Knowing that the medical center would be nearby made the land in the area very attractive to investors and an easy sell for Haag Brown. What Brown sees as he drives the area is similar to what he envisioned when selling it.
"It's cool for me because I literally got to take an aerial [shot] three years ago and paint exactly what that looks like now," Brown said. "We didn't know a spot would be a Dairy Queen, but knew it would be fast food. We knew where the banks would be and the gas stations. Really, we got to pick who we went after because we knew how big it could be."
Haag Brown has also played a similar role in development and redevelopment along Jonesboro's Stadium Boulevard.
Having spent the first half of my life growing up in Jonesboro, it's still a shock to return home every few months and see the national restaurant chains and retail options located along major stretches in the town.
Anybody who tells you Jonesboro has changed substantially in the last three to five years isn't exaggerating.
Naturally, success in Jonesboro has led to opportunities and interest elsewhere. Haag Brown has, within the last month, taken site tours in Missouri and Montana. Plus, there are those forthcoming development forays into Northwest Arkansas.
Whatever happens for Haag Brown in those markets, there is no question the company has had a huge hand in transforming the options in and perceptions of Jonesboro.
SundayMonday Business on 09/14/2014