[title subtitle=”WORDS Dwain Hebda
IMAGE courtesy Kat Wilson”][/title]
Fort Chaffee is one of the most historic spots in Fort Smith, to say nothing of the entire state of Arkansas. Established in 1941 as Camp Chaffee, the base has been home to German POWs, Vietnamese and Cuban refugees and, of course, thousands of American soldiers.
Today, a portion of the former Fort Chaffee is poised to become an elite home address for a new generation, thanks to the development of The Hub at Providence, a high-density, mixed-use development conceptualized and constructed by Ernest R. Coleman Building Company (ERC). Combining commercial, residential and recreational amenities, The HUB represents an urban design unlike anything else currently found in historic Fort Smith.
“(The HUB) was something that was needed in this community. It’s very natural out here. We live in The Natural State and we are in a natural environment,” said Nicole Swanson, vice president of ERC’s Create Division. “We put this type of construction in the middle of the wonderful trail systems we have out here to be able to help people immerse themselves in nature or hiking activities, kayaking activities. Our goal was to create one location that filled all your needs.”
Located within the Chaffee Crossing development, The HUB provides a number of residential, multi-family and commercial spaces. All told, the eight- to ten-million-dollar development provides more than eight thousand square feet of commercial and office space and another twenty-five hundred square feet of restaurant space. There are also eleven townhomes ranging from just under sixteen hundred square feet to just over twenty-six hundred square feet and twenty loft apartments ranging from around five hundred to seven hundred square feet in size.
“Currently we are one hundred percent built out in our townhomes and apartments,” Nicole said. “We have the shell of the building built out for the commercial lease spaces which are located on the first floor of the two buildings that house apartments.”
The community also has its first commercial tenants which includes ERC itself and REVEL, a new restaurant owned by Chef Jason Haid, former owner of River City Bistro, and fiancée Christen Roberts, which will open this spring. Nicole says interest in the area from a residential standpoint is already high, but the presence of the casually elegant restaurant as a magnet for other businesses and services is a key factor in making the neighborhood concept go.
“Chaffee is the fastest-growing area, because it’s basically the only area to be able to grow anymore in Fort Smith. As a result, residential has boomed out here,” she said. “We’re hoping to have small businesses, small bank opportunities, salons or a fitness-type company that will come out there. That’s why Jason is such a crucial piece of The HUB becoming a success.”
Mixed-use buildings and developments have risen to recent prominence, but are one of the oldest community designs known to mankind, according to Urban-Hub.com. That site reports the oldest communities developed in mixed-use patterns where inhabitants lived and worked in a central area. Market squares in ancient Rome, for instance, would contain shops, apartments, administrative offices and often a library, archeologists have discovered.
This community pattern was disrupted during the Industrial Revolution, where stricter zoning laws created sharper separation between residential and work zones. Over time, these changes would accelerate with improved transportation that made commuting possible and spurred the growth of residential neighborhoods far removed from industrial and commercial areas, Urban-Hub.com reports.
Recent years have seen a return to the mixed-use model for several reasons, say experts. Led by the preferences of the Millennial generation and advancing technology, there’s less desire for automobile commuting and thus far more favor for neighborhoods where everything can be had within walking or cycling distance from home.
Nicole said the growth and success of such developments nationwide are what inspired ERC’s leadership to bring the concept to Fort Smith. Locating it at Chaffee Crossing dovetailed with the lifestyle amenities that already existed there, said Kathy Coleman, director of single-family marketing and design.
“Chaffee was already a big bicycle riding area before people ever started building out there. To me, it’s just like a big park,” she said. “The HUB is the only development connected by the internal trail system to the Fort Chaffee trails.”
Kathy, who’s the wife of ERC Holdings CEO Rod Coleman and mother of ERC President and CEO Rob Coleman, called the thinking behind The HUB “creative genius” noting the company has had a penchant for visionary thinking during its long history.
“This isn’t the first time ERC has gone out on a limb like this,” she said. “Way back, we did the Trace at the bottom of Fianna Hills. We did Hardscrabble Way. Both of those things were new to Fort Smith and it’s not easy in Fort Smith to try to cast that new vision.”
As if all of this were not groundbreaking enough, the company has also designated various artistic projects as top priority throughout The HUB. Kat Wilson, creative director, was hired in part to curate a visual arts program throughout the development, creating multi-dimensional spaces that encourage people to connect.
Kat, in turn, invited several Northwest Arkansas-based artists to create pieces examining the history of the region and invite people to engage deeply with spaces they typically only move through. Each artist will be paired with a filmmaker who will direct a short film aimed at helping patrons of The HUB find a deeper connection to the art and artists.
“Matt Miller, our first mural artist who did two indoor murals right now and will do a third outside, really spoke to Rob (Coleman’s) mission for the arts,” Kat said. “He wants to create a place that people see deeper than just walls. We also worked with a sound artist named Amos Cochran who’s a Fort Smith artist. He just recently had some work in a show called Color Fields at Crystal Bridges (Museum of American Art).”
“We teamed each artist with a videographer so when people move in, they’re not just living with art, they understand the art. We want everybody to feel connected to The HUB.”
ERC has expectations for substantial growth: only about seventy percent of the footprint is built out, Nicole said, and there’s lots more ground for growth where that came from.
“We are currently built out on only three and a half of that five acres,” she said. “We do have plans for an additional section of townhomes for Phase II at a later date. We also have surrounding parcels that will allow us to spiral out. The HUB is the center of our community and we will just be extending that out where we own approximately forty-five more acres directly around The HUB.”
Kathy speaks discernable pride about the development, not just for the family legacy it perpetuates but because of a personal connection she has with the neighborhood.
“I worked at Fort Chaffee when I was coming here after high school to visit my sister. We went to work at Fort Chaffee during the time of the Vietnamese refugees,” she said. “To see it now and how this is coming together is just very exciting.”
The HUB
Wells Lake Road & R.A. Young Jr. Drive
Fort Smith, Arkansas
479.478.5103
theHUBerc.com
