CONWAY — Central Landing, the $175 million multiuse development planned for the former Conway airport property, is still on after almost two years of waiting, said Brad Lacy, president and CEO of the Conway Development Corp.
Lacy said despite a change in possible tenants for the center, anchor-store Dillard’s is not just interested: “They’re committed.”
The Conway Development Corp. and Jim Wilson & Associates of Montgomery, Alabama, in 2015 had the winning bid of $6.1 million for the city-owned 151-acre former airport site. The new $30 million Dennis F. Cantrell Field was built on the Arkansas River in west Conway and opened in September 2014.
Conway Mayor Bart Castleberry said he feels confident the Central Landing development will become a reality.
“I had a meeting here two weeks ago. Dillard’s is committed to coming to Conway, and the CDC and the Wilson group are committed to continue on with the purchase,” he said. “We’re excited that Dillard’s is excited.”
The still undeveloped Central Landing was designed as a multiuse development, including shops, restaurants, businesses, single-family homes, town-home apartments, a hotel and office space.
However, the potential-tenant list has been tweaked.
Some of the retail locations originally announced as tenants for Central Landing have opened just across the interstate in the new Lewis Crossing shopping center at Dave Ward Drive (east of Interstate 40) and Amity Road. The center was developed by Collett of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Stores in Lewis Crossing that were originally listed on a site plan for Central Landing include Books-A-Million, also known as BAM!, and Kay’s Jewelers.
Lacy, who is also president of the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce, said retail has changed in the past two or three years since Central Landing was proposed.
“A good example would be The Limited,” Lacy said. “When we first started talking about the Landing, The Limited would likely have been one of our tenants; now they’re closed.”
The Limited announced in January it was closing all its stores nationwide. Ann Taylor Loft, originally listed as a tenant for Central Landing, is closing stores nationwide, too.
“Brick and mortar’s not dying; there will always be some brick and mortar,” Lacy said. “What [Central Landing] ends up with will be heavier in restaurants and entertainment and maybe a little lighter in retail.”
Central Landing will be more of a “lifestyle” center, Lacy said, rather than a “power
center” like Lewis Crossing. He compared Central Landing to The Village at Hendrix in Conway, which has restaurants, a clothing store, a bank, the Hendrix College bookstore and office space, as well as single-family homes and student housing.
“Hendrix Village has definitely proved to be attractive to folks. I think you’ll see the same type of development,” Lacy said, referring to Central Landing.
The deal isn’t finalized until the joint venture buys the property from the city, so no dirt has been moved on the site.
Lacy said that was expected.
“The deal with the city included a provision that the roadwork would be finished, and that still hasn’t happened,” Lacy said. “We’re still in the process of building streets out there. That’s always been an issue; until you see streets, you won’t see anything out there. That’s taken longer than we thought. We’re hearing the end of July, that may happen.”
The infrastructure includes an overpass, which is under construction, over Interstate 40 linking Conway Commons shopping center to Central Landing on the other side. Central Landing Boulevard is completed, which runs from the existing I-40 eastbound on-ramp at Oak Street and continues between Fifth Avenue Park and Roller-McNutt Funeral Home to Central Landing.
Castleberry said the bridge is the final piece of the infrastructure.
“It looks like that’s going to happen in August,” he said, adding that a grand opening will likely take place the first week of August.
“Right now, everything looks to be on track,” Castleberry said.
There is somewhat of a deadline for the city to finalize the deal with the developers for Central Landing.
The city borrowed $6.1 million against the sale of the old airport to build the new airport. The remainder of the loan has to be paid off in June 2018, according to an earlier story in the River Valley & Ozark Edition.
“We need to pay that loan off just as quickly as we can because interest is accruing,” Castleberry said.
Lacy said that by 2018, “[the development] will have happened.”
Roger Cole of Little Rock, leasing agent for Lewis Crossing, said it’s not surprising that tenants would switch centers.
“I don’t have a clue as to why [Books-A-Million and Kay’s] decided to jump ship, other than it’s pretty common in the retail business. If you’ve got a developer and you’re looking for tenants, you’re all talking to the same tenants. There are only a limited number of retailers out there in the first place,” he said, adding that leasing agents try to strategically figure out which retailers best fit together.
“It’s like a puzzle, and you’re constantly balancing who you’ve got with who you need, and it’s a balancing act,” he said. “At the end of the day, you hope you have the right mix.
“Why a retailer in their own in-house committee meetings would say, ‘Let’s go from Project A to … Project B’ usually boils down to where they think they can get the most revenue,” Cole said.
Lewis Crossing, which is anchored by Sam’s Club, is still attracting tenants, he said.
In addition to other big-box stores, such as Academy Sports, Ross Dress for Less, Michaels and Bed, Bath and Beyond, smaller retailers coming include Rita’s Frozen Yogurt, Fancy Nails & Spa and Success Vision.
“It’s more of a bread-and-butter-tenant mix,” he said. “It’s not the glitzy Anne Klein, or Florsheim shoes or Brooks Brothers — it’s more that middle-class dollar, that disposable income.
“So far, we’ve been very lucky,” Cole said. “It seems it’s coming together.”
Lacy said he is confident that Central Landing will come together, too.
“It’s still in the process of planning with the Wilsons. We’re always working on it to some degree,” Lacy said.
“We are very fortunate that Dillard’s is based in Arkansas and that they are determined to be in this market because that is not happening anywhere, you know,” he said with a laugh. “You’re not seeing big department stores go many places these days, so we’re very fortunate.”
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.