BENTONVILLE -- The Planning Commission on Tuesday night unanimously approved plans for a downtown office building and parking garage.
City Center LLC proposes the development of an approximately 230,000-square-foot, six-story office building and an associated parking garage that would be approximately 170,000 square feet and eight stories, said Josh Kyles, developer for Center City.
The Bentonville City Center would be at 226 and 240 S. Main St. WeWork is involved with the project, Kyles said. The property is zoned as downtown core, according to planning documents.
The parking garage would consist of 452 parking spaces, according to large-scale development plans.
The City Council in October unanimously approved a lease for the parking garage. The city owns the 52-spot public parking lot there now. The area is between the AT&T building and the Downtown Activity Center on Southwest A Street.
The lease is for an initial term of 45 years, and the city will be paid a one-time sum of $250,000 as rent, according to the lease. The city would continue to own the land, according to the lease. The city would have exclusive right to 52 spots on the ground floor of the parking garage, Kyles said.
The development also will provide a large public gathering space including a 30-foot-wide trail section. The trail section will connect to a pedestrian breezeway that leads to existing greenspace adjacent to the Downtown Activity Center and Community Development Building, according to planning documents.
The primary exterior materials for the office building would consist of glass, 22-gauge pre-weathered copper panels and 18-gauge architectural metal panels. The primary exterior materials for the parking garage would consist of pre-cast concrete, 20-gauge perforated ribbed aluminum panels, and flush aluminum panels at the base, according to planning documents.
The Planning Commission unanimously approved two waivers related to building materials for the building and parking garage.
More information, including conceptual drawings and a 3D walkthrough, will announced later, Kyles said.
Utility and dirt work could start in the next three months, Kyles said. It could take 18 months to complete the whole project, he said.
The Downtown Bentonville Sub-area Plan of the 2015 Comprehensive Plan depicts the property within the South Gateway Corridor. The plan envisions these properties as "mixed-use redevelopment completing the feel of a 'civic campus ...' maximizing the opportunity for mixed-use commerce, living and working," according to documents.
Metro on 05/20/2020