In January, Blue Crane bought the Sugar Creek Center, a 9-acre, 48,552-SF shopping center, from Cooper Communities of Rogers. (Michael Woods)
It may be a few months until Blue Crane announces what it plans to do with the property it bought in Bella Vista earlier this year, but city leaders believe the Walton heirs’ interest is a sign its time has come.
Blue Crane, the real estate development arm of the investment company Runway Group of Bentonville, purchased 54 acres in Bella Vista for $33.9 million in January. In May, Blue Crane scooped up 2,700 acres of undeveloped rural land west of Bella Vista for at least $26 million.
Runway Group is a holding company that was founded by Steuart and Tom Walton, grandsons of Walmart Inc. founder Sam Walton. Runway Group declined to comment for this article, but said previously that it would be “focusing on outdoor recreation, hospitality and retail investments.”
“We are looking forward to continuing these conversations with the community and hope to have more to share at the end of the year,” Tom Walton said at a news conference in May at the Bella Vista Country Club.
Blue Crane’s entry into the Bella Vista market caught people’s attention but also highlighted one of the often overlooked towns in bustling northwest Arkansas. The area has earned renown in the past decade for its population and economic growth that seemingly centered on the “big four” cities of Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville, all located along the Interstate 49 corridor.
In recent years, though, other satellite towns have seen their fortunes improve.
Towns such as Farmington, just west of Fayetteville, and Centerton, west of Rogers, have become development and population magnets.
Now Bella Vista is getting in on the action.
“They [the big four cities] get talked about a lot,” said Brandom Gengelbach, the CEO of the Greater Bentonville Chamber of Com-merce. “There are amazing communities outside that are a part of this growth and have to be a part of this growth.”
Go West, Young People
Bella Vista Mayor John Flynn said his city’s reputation as a retirement community for people who want to play a lot of golf has changed over the years.
One of the most important factors in Bella Vista’s changing present and future was the 2021 opening of the Bella Vista Bypass, a 19-mile stretch of I-49 that swept around the city to the west and reconnected with the interstate in southern Missouri. The bypass helped travelers avoid the tedious stop-and-go trek of driving through Bella Vista, but, crucially, it opened up west Bella Vista to residential and commercial developments.
“There really has been a change gradually over the years,” Flynn said. “The bypass going around the west side of Bella Vista has had a big effect on the younger people thinking about living on the west side. It is way easier to get to Bentonville and Rogers, if you work there, because of that bypass. It used to be that the younger people used to congregate on the east side. This opens up the far west side quite a bit.
“There are a bunch of different factors happening at the same time.”
Blue Crane’s January purchases centered on Sugar Creek Center, a 9-acre, 48,552-SF shopping center it bought for $24 million from Cooper Communities of Rogers. The center is on the northeast corner of the intersection of Bella Vista Way and Mercy Way, and the remaining tracts Blue Crane purchased surround it. The 2,700 acres are in multiple tracts throughout western Benton County west of Bella Vista. Blue Crane will do a complete study of the property before “figuring out” what to do with the properties.
“This includes an infrastructure survey that will take the rest of the year to complete,” Blue Crane said on its website. “We can tell you that we’ll be focusing on outdoor recreation, hospitality and retail investments. We want to do this the right way and that takes time.
“Whatever we decide to do, we want to be responsible stewards of the land. We are respectful and appreciative of the natural environment that makes Bella Vista what it is.”
‘A Really Good Feeling’
The natural environment is im-portant to Flynn, the city’s mayor, as well as many of its residents.
Flynn said Bella Vista has worked in recent years to bring down the median age of residents — it is down to approximately 50, Flynn said — while retaining its outdoorsy, slower-paced vibe. Flynn is in his second year as mayor after serving as a City Council member for eight years.
“We do have a desire to have more development but still try to keep our lakes and trees and some of our good atmosphere,” said Flynn, a retired corporate attorney who moved to Bella Vista in 2005.
“It’s a challenge to do both of those things at once. I feel they can do it as well as anybody can. Certainly they keep that kind of thing in mind, so we have a really good feeling about it.
“We’re not trying to be Bentonville or Springdale or anyplace else. We would like to have a little more development and emphasize our strong points like a nice environment and trees. It has become a special place outdoors with the golf and the lakes and, of course, the trails have really added a lot to that.”
Tom and Steuart Walton are well known for their love of cycling and trails, and Flynn is confident the Blue Crane development plan will have plenty of focus on outdoor recreation. He and the city are looking forward to working with Blue Crane on whether plans are decided upon.
“I don’t want to get out ahead of any of their announcements,” Flynn said. “I think it is going to emphasize recreation and other things involved, too, like more commercial [developments].
“They emphasize working with you on things. They come across as having a very good attitude toward working collaboratively.”
Tom Walton, in the company’s original announcement, said the Runway Group wants to work with Bella Vista community members as plans are developed.
“We understand that this is a big announcement for many people; it is for us, too,” Walton said. “We believe deeply in Bella Vista’s tradition of connecting people to nature through cycling, golf and outdoor recreation, and we are confident our investments will reflect that.”
