FORT SMITH’S SECOND CITY Chaffee Crossing is booming.
COURTESY OF FORT CHAFFEE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY, PC BRANCHOUT STUDIOS
BY DANIEL MANN AND LORIE ROBERTSON
Chaffee Crossing Historic & Entertainment District aerial
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hough many city administrators and leaders dream of having more land to develop and use for the economic and social benefit of their residents, many never have that opportunity. That’s not the case, however, in the Fort Smith region. In 1995, the U.S. Department of Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission voted to convey 7,000 acres of the former Fort Chaffee Joint Regional Training Center (now Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center operated by the Arkansas Army National Guard) to the state of Arkansas. This ultimately created the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority Public Trust, which oversees development of the land and how it can best benefit the residents of Fort Smith, Barling, Greenwood and the rest of Sebastian County. Due to the sheer volume of real estate, the dated or lack of utility infrastructure, the number of buildings in disrepair and the lack of 48 | BLOCK, STREET & BUILDING VOLUME 8 | 2022
connectivity to development around the perimeter of Fort Smith and Barling, the challenges were great. The greatest variable in the equation was, of course, funding for the public aspects of the project. It was known that proceeds from the sale of the property would eventually come back to the trust and be reinvested in infrastructure and public developments, but in the beginning, resources were very, very scant. Many concepts were brought to the table to address the rapidly evaporating regional manufacturing jobs and the need for residential development. As they took a step back, however, leadership recognized the gift for what it was: a blank slate that could be planned, molded and formed into a near fairy tale development. Fast-forward to present day and a staggering $2.3 billion projected in capital investments have been made in Chaffee Crossing, the branded name of the economic development project. This dream project is now the hottest development prospect in
