insideyournwa.com

Interesting story this morning in the Morning News regarding various empty buildings in Northwest Arkansas.  I always find this interesting.  It’s the empty buildings that provide opportunity for our areas growth.  And many times these buildings are bought with promises of bigger things, when in reality they are simply hollow reminders of how speculators often control the market and drive prices up to the point where the return does not merit the investment.

For example, The Peachtree in downtown Rogers is a golden opportunity for the redevelopment of downtown.  A renovation project of this size would likely fuel further growth in that area, in addition to providing a much needed asset to the entire region.  We were sold a bill of goods on retail and condo plans that have never materialized in nearly three years.  I believe that this group seems intent on another investor seeing the golden egg and then selling the building with an enormous profit, thus eliminating the financial room for the project to be done right.

Let’s hope community leaders continue to see the benefit of working with various group and investors by offering tax incentives and rebates so that these developments kick off sooner rather than later, therefore fueling even greater growth throughout NWA.