Client: City of Fayetteville (AR)

The City of Fayetteville engaged RDG Design & Planning to prepare a plan for the College Avenue/71B corridor in Fayetteville.   Gruen Gruen + Associates (GG+A) was engaged to complete an assessment of the market for retail uses on the College Avenue/71B corridor and the Northwest Arkansas Mall.

To complete the assessment, GG+A inspected the College Avenue/71B corridor and Pinnacle Hills Promenade activity center in Rogers and conducted interviews with property owners, developers, and real estate brokers including representatives of CBRE, Inc., Colliers, High Street Real Estate Development, Mark Zweig, Inc., Mathias Properties, Newmark Moses Tucker Partners, Sage Partners, and Specialized Real Estate Group as well as staff with the City of Fayetteville and University of Arkansas Technology Development Foundation. GG+A also obtained information from the General Manager of the Pinnacle Hills Promenade.

GG+A analyzed land use, real estate market, and population, sales tax, and employment data. Local sources consulted included the Center for Business and Economic Research of the University of Arkansas, Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission, and Washington County Assessor’s Office.

GG+A analyzed demographic and income characteristics of households, and prepared purchasing power estimates for retail goods and services for two primary market areas: the “South 71B” corridor and the “North 71B” corridor.  GG+A converted estimates of purchasing power or retail demand into estimates of the supportable amount of on-the-ground retail space for the two primary market areas. GG+A obtained estimates of the supply of retail space and identified the relationship between estimated retail space demand and supply for the two primary market areas.

GG+A synthesized the results of the primary and secondary research and analysis and field inspections in order to reach conclusions about the potential opportunities and constraints affecting demand for retail space and to identify strategic action recommendations for subsequent planning, marketing, and enhancement implementation.  GG+A prepared an extensive report summarizing the work completed, the findings and conclusions drawn from the research and analysis and presented strategic recommendations.

A copy of the final report is available here.