Page 4 - Commercial Real Estate Guide 2016

4W CENTRAL ARKANSAS COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE GUIDE • ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE • SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016
SALINE COUNTY
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Hurricane Creek Village, anchored by Academy Sports and the state's largest Kroger Marketplace, opened in Benton in 2015. The shopping center has easy access to Interstate 30, Arkansas 5 and Alcoa Road.
Creating a destination
Shopping centers, various industries shape county
by SYD HAYMAN Special Sections Writer
Residents value being able to rest, work and play in the county they call home, and one Arkansas county is continuing its years-long progress to meet that demand.
And the effort is not going unnoticed.
Named the richest county in Arkansas by 24/7 Wall St. in January, Saline County lies just outside Arkansas’ most populated one, Pulaski County.
“The wealthiest counties ... are often suburban areas, located just outside a ma- jor metropolis,” 24/7 Wall St. said, noting that the trend is found in states across the country. But once seen as a commute-wor- thy place for both work and leisure activ- ity, Pulaski County might just be on the road to becoming more of an afterthought for some Saline County residents.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Saline County had a population of 115,719 in 2014, an 8 percent increase from its 2010 population of 107,118. The coun- ty’s median household income is $55,348 — $14,580 more than the state’s, based
on census data from 2009 to 2013. And according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in Sa- line County, as of December 2015, was 3.6 percent, while each bordering county had rates over 4 percent.
With a steady increase in residents, who on average are bringing in higher incomes than those in other counties in the state, Saline County has experienced a surge of commercial real estate over the past few years, with hopes that residents will spend more of their retail dollars at newly devel- oped or developing in-county locations.
Large Saline County shopping sites that bring national retailers closer to home in- clude Bryant’s Alcoa Exchange, which fea- tures Target as an anchor and retailers such as Rue 21, Lane Bryant and Best Buy; and Benton’s Hurricane Creek Village, which opened in 2015 with Academy Sports and the state’s largest Kroger Marketplace as anchors. Estimated to open in 2017, the Shoppes of Benton is a highly buzzed- about addition to Saline County’s shopping scene and has already secured businesses such as T.J. Maxx/Home Goods, Hobby