JamesE

I live in the Walker Park neighborhood - I was skeptical at first of an at-grade crossing, but I really like how they've pulled it off. In another decade, we may regret having not put in a tunnel here, but for now it's perfect.

It looks like the former Mountain Inn site is up for sale.. Hopefully this will wind up being something interesting. Given the asking price, I imagine it would need to be at least five-six stories to justify the asking price.

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder... I happen to really like the Vue; I see it coming & going everyday and I can think of a lot of other things that are way uglier on MLK. I like that is't pearched on the hill - we need a bit of a skyline in Fayetteville, especially given that many of our few highrises, with notable exceptions such as The Chancellor, are hideous 60's-era monstrosities.

The final decision to move forward with two-laning Rupple south to MLK should lessen the "need" for too much widening along Weddington.

I wonder when the tremendous increase in student population density along MLK will begin translating into new commercial & retail space that cater's to residents? I'd think that S. School would be a perfect place for student bars, coffee shops, quick dining, a grocery store, etc. - it's closer to the majority of the students than Dickson St, with (soon to be) great bike path access and with much less expensive rents.

Excellent points. The other wards often seem to treat the west side as the City's stepchild; the Flyer tends to fill up with comments about how Weddington is all "sprawl" (seeming to forget that residents there pay taxes, they don't think of it as sprawl and with a bit of infrastructure and planning, it would be every bit as well integrated as the rest of the city). The west side should be getting a lot more trails soon, after the Town Branch & Tse-La-Gi trails finish up. The regional park & Mt Kessler acquisition, in time, gives west Fayetteville the region's best park and widening Rupple will make it readily accessible from Weddington. My impression is Ward 4 needs residents to really turn out to council meetings; Central Fayetteville is always well (too well) represented at these meetings, which tends to lead to a bit of bias in planning & priority.

Sounds like smart diversifacation from their usual (successful) concept.

Fayetteville has had a few developers who epitomized how not to do condos; done correctly, they ought to be a bit less expensive than similar square footage at a comparable location, not three-four times more expensive. My wife has a very nice condo a few blocks from Powerhouse - it was very reasonably priced when she bought it. Fayetteville needs more like hers and fewer like the one's Brandon Barber (mis)developed. Good point about these being targeted to Wal-Mart executives; no one wants to commute 45 minutes+ after working a 10 hr+ day when one has very good options in Bentonville/Rogers. When it comes to large-scale condo developments in/near downtown Fayetteville, if a U of A assistant professor can't afford it, then it probably shouldn't be built.

It sounds like a pretty good idea to me - it could be a nice model to follow when West Ave and the current WAC surface lots get redeveloped. I'm pretty liberal, just throwing that out so I don't sound too much like a Teapartier... IMO, the City would get a much better return on our investment if they offer these to developers to build them out as full-priced condos. I love the idea of affordable housing, quite a lot of it is being developed just a few blocks from my home, but I think the concept is better suited to redeveloping blighted neighborhoods and not for developing prime real estate in the heart of downtown. If this parcel was sold for market value, the revenue could jump-start further improvements along West Ave, such as the long-awaited downtown park, and/or may close the funding gap for the parking deck. Whether they build affordable townhouses or market-priced townhouses, I hope the concept spreads. Building something like these around a renovated Hillcrest towers, for instance, would help tie West Ave in to its two main anchors, the library and the WAC, insure Hillcrest's future as low-income housing and beautify the area.

Yep. ONF seems to have really squandered whatever goodwill they used to have with the community over the past few years.

Thanks Strmchsr77!

I read a passing burb on Fayetteville Flyer that Specialized Real Estate Group is working on a new project on MLK. Does anyone know any details?

ONF appears to be very poorly managed. However, it's a very nice building at a good location - if we get a WF and ONF closes, hopefully Harps or someone takes over the ONF location.

Call it a very early, vague report: the broker who sold me my new house recently sold two large lots near the Coop/Mill in the Mill District. He says that the lot adjacent to Greenhouse Grille is expected to be a 2-3 story structure with retail or offices on the lower level, topped with apartments. The larger, arguably better located lot right on the bike trail is expected to be somewhat similar to what Jacobs & Newell is putting in across the street, albeit it will be built by a different developer (that's disappointing). It will likely be a dense 2-3 story, possibily 4 story mixed purpose structure(s). The buyers are still very early in the development process so I have no hard details yet on what it will look like, but my understanding is they are already working with the city planning commision. The link below is to what Jacobs + Newell is currently building in the Mill District: http://www.jacobsnewellcompany.com/in-progress/ Some older homes recently sold on the north side of MLK, adjacent to J+N's Church St project. The rumor is the buyer plans to demo the houses and then sit on the lots; either he'll flip them or develop them later for in-fill housing.

A agree Bentonville downtown is great - the new WAC & kids museum is going to make it even better.