The Warehouse District recently broke ground at Johnson Square in northwest Arkansas. As the second phase of Johnson Square will add 79,000 square feet of mixed-use development to the location, said Corey Fuhrman, broker at Focus Commercial Real Estate in Rogers, who is handling commercial leasing for the project.
“It’s going to be a very experience-focused project,” he said. “It’s very walkable. It’s very arts-centric, if you will. We’re spending a lot of money in design to make the buildings really architecturally appealing, the outdoor spaces in between the buildings very appealing and very tenant-focused and very experience-focused for everyone that’s there.”
The Warehouse District will include retail, medical and office spaces, as well as apartments. Fuhrman said two local restaurateurs have already committed to opening establishments at The Warehouse District. Carl Garrett, owner of Table Mesa Restaurant Group, will open AIA Table, and Juan Bahena, owner of Tula in Fayetteville, will open Costa.
Fuhrman said he has high hopes for the restaurants, given the success of Pizzeria Ruby and Hail Fellow Well Met, which opened during the development’s first phase.
The developers are also working to recruit a brewery that will “maximize the outdoor space,” as well as a dessert establishment and an office tenant with fairly large square footage needs, he said.
“There’s not a lot of master-planned mixed-use developments in northwest Arkansas to this scale, so I think we are kind of meeting a need in that regard as far as just a large-scale, master-planned community that’s very much focused on the people that live there and visit there and work there long term,” he said. “That just doesn’t exist in this market.”
He said he expects to deliver space in mid to late 2026. A third phase of the Johnson Square development will provide additional single-family and multifamily housing, as well as office and retail space.
Fuhrman added that a sewer moratorium in Springdale delayed the second phase of the project, but the moratorium has now been lifted. He said he expects Johnson Square to help meet the growing need for commercial and residential real estate in northwest Arkansas.
“Having product coming on the market is a good thing because it gives those tenants that are looking to grow a place to land,” he said, “and the other thing is the housing supply is a challenge here, as well, so this project is well suited to meet those needs kind of across every asset type.”
High Street Real Estate & Development in Fayetteville is the developer for Johnson Square. Other companies involved in the project include Crafton Tull, Polk Stanley Wilcox and Origins Construction in Fayetteville.
