$45.1 million Centerton apartment project is now underway

Northwest Arkansas has a jobsite headline this week.

Construction is underway on The Emerald, a $45.1 million apartment development in Centerton with 256 units, nine residential buildings and retail space built into the project. That is only the beginning. This issue also has three live bid opportunities, $11.7 million in newly approved Bentonville construction contracts, a proposed $565 million housing pipeline and Rogers' $457.25 million bond package.

Then we finish with four useful October dates and a simple exterior-door check before cooler weather settles in.

Capstone Building Corp. lists The Emerald as a current project that started in August. The 312,414-square-foot development sits on 9.16 acres southwest of Arkansas Highway 102 and Womack Road. The contractor's schedule shows completion in June 2028, while the local report describes the target as summer 2028.

The scope is broader than nine apartment buildings. Plans include a clubhouse, pool, pickleball courts, fire pits and gathering areas, with retail space integrated into the apartment buildings. Announced interior finishes include luxury vinyl tile, kitchen backsplashes, tile tub and shower surrounds, stainless steel appliances and granite countertops.

That mix points to site and utility work, concrete, framing, roofing, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, flooring, tile, cabinets, countertops, appliances, pool and amenity work, landscaping and retail buildout.

The development team is The Kalikow Group and EYC Companies. Birmingham-based Capstone is the general contractor, S. Robert Andron is the architect, and Fayetteville civil engineer Chris Bakunas gives the team a local connection. Capstone's public page identifies the work as current but does not publish a trade-package schedule. Anyone pursuing it should contact the contractor directly rather than assume bidding is open.

Why it matters: this is not a concept waiting on a land closing. Construction has begun, financing was recorded in August, and the job has a defined completion window. For trades, it is a live, multi-building project worth tracking through 2028. For residents, it adds 256 units along one of western Benton County's fastest-growing corridors.

Read the local report or see Capstone's project page.

Tuesday, October 6, 10 a.m.: Fayetteville Fire Station 6 pre-bid meeting. Bid 26-55 covers a pavement rehabilitation rebid at 900 S. Hollywood Avenue. The city lists the bid opening for October 21 at 2 p.m. Start with the official notice.

Thursday, October 8, 2 p.m.: University of Arkansas North Chiller Plant. The university is taking lump-sum bids for installation of a chiller and supporting electrical equipment at 1236 W. Maple Street in Fayetteville. Open the university construction page.

Wednesday, October 14: Blossom Way sewer main. Rogers Water Utilities is soliciting about 15,500 linear feet of 8- to 36-inch sanitary sewer, generally 6 to 20 feet deep. The work is primarily open cut, with some auger bore or pipe bursting, plus epoxy-lined manholes and diversion boxes. Download the manual, geotechnical report and plans and verify every requirement before bidding.

At its September 22 meeting, the city approved $7.61 million to Crossland Heavy Contractors for the Town Branch Interceptor, Alignment 1; $2.33 million to Steep Creek for Southwest Nutmeg drainage; $550,428 to On Point Excavation for drainage at Southwest 2nd and O streets; and $1.24 million to All Service Electric for the Southwest I Street and Southwest 41st Street intersection. The same meeting advanced about $9.62 million in financing for a 48-inch water-transmission project. Open the official meeting file.

Fayetteville-based Calara is working on three Benton County projects estimated at a combined $565 million in eventual residential investment. The largest is a roughly 900-lot Bentonville community at Windmill and Morning Star roads with an estimate above $350 million. That land deal is still under contract, due diligence is underway and builder partners are not final.

The other pieces are farther along. Calara owns Simpson Farms in Bentonville, planned for 128 large single-family lots and an estimated $125 million in homes. In Rogers, it acquired land for 154 lots expected to support about $90 million in homes, with construction timed to sewer upgrades. Read the project-by-project breakdown.

The total includes $118 million to refinance existing bonds and $339.25 million in proposed new bond authority: $195.5 million for streets and stormwater, $81.5 million for parks and recreation, $32.75 million for fire, $20.75 million for police and $8.75 million for animal services.

The largest piece would touch more than 200 miles of streets and fund work on Oak, Walnut, Olive and Arkansas streets, along with bridges, drainage, sidewalks, signals, lighting and utility adjustments. The city says Oak Street from 28th to Promenade and Arkansas Street from Chestnut to Union are farthest along, but there is no fixed construction sequence. Each issue appears separately on the ballot, and the refinancing question must pass before the other approved issues can take effect. The proposal extends an existing 1% sales tax rather than adding another 1% tax. Explore the official bond pages.

Construction began September 17 on the 709,000-square-foot Center for Advanced Specialty Care, the first building at the 120-plus-acre AWSOM Whole Health Campus. It is planned to open in 2029. Nabholz is construction manager, CannonDesign is lead architect, and EDSA leads landscape architecture and planning. Longer-range plans describe nearly 3 million square feet across specialty care, cancer treatment and a future hospital, but those later pieces remain in development. Read the project announcement and review Nabholz's trade-contractor prequalification path.

Free Home Depot Kids Workshop: Saturday, October 3, 9 a.m. to noon at participating stores. The free first-Saturday workshops are designed for children ages 5 to 12. Supplies can run out, so check the workshop page and your preferred store.

Issue 3 ballot lunch: Monday, October 5, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at AGC Arkansas, 3608 N. Steele Blvd., Suite 105, Fayetteville. AGC lists a free lunch; its separate recap calls the NWA session free for members, so register and confirm your spot. AGC has publicly urged a yes vote, so compare its briefing with the Arkansas Senate's explanation.

October Happy Hour at AMP Industrial Solutions: Thursday, October 22, 4 to 6 p.m., 3206 Luper Road, Lowell. AGC members can tour the shop and warehouse. Members eat and drink free, and no RSVP is required. See the details.

Construction Law Lunch and Learn: Tuesday, October 27, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the AGC office in Fayetteville. The page showed 13 seats remaining Friday morning, and registration closes October 23 at 5 p.m. Price and agenda were not publicly visible, so confirm both. Open registration.

Open the door, place a plain strip of paper across the weatherstripping, then close and latch the door. Pull the paper out. You should feel steady resistance. Repeat near the top, middle and bottom of both sides. If the paper slides out with almost no drag in one spot, the seal is probably no longer pressing evenly against the door.

Start with the simple things. Tighten loose hinge screws and make sure the latch pulls the door snugly into the frame. If the weatherstripping is cracked, flattened or missing, replace it with the same general profile and thickness. A worn bottom seal or door sweep can be changed separately.

Open and close the door several times when you are done. New weatherstripping should stop the draft without making the door hard to latch. The U.S. Department of Energy recommends weatherstripping for moving joints around doors and windows, and caulk for fixed cracks and gaps.

This is homeowner-safe work with basic hand tools. If the door will not latch securely, the frame is soft or water-damaged, or the slab is badly out of square, call a carpenter or door professional instead of forcing a thicker seal into the gap.

Are you working on The Emerald, the AWSOM campus or one of this week's awarded projects? Reply and tell us what scope you are seeing, what is actually bidding and what other local work we should track.

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Levi Pittenger
Publisher, The NWA Trade Guide