Today’s entry takes a bit of a different twist. We’re lucky enough to have Brent Stinespring as an Office Member at our Bella Vista location. Together with his wife, Ali, they own G4 Real Estate, which is licensed in both Arkansas and Missouri. (Convenient, since we are right on the state line, and the Bentonville ‘burbs will inevitably branch out north.) Brent has lived in Bella Vista longer than it's been a city, and has been instrumental in creating the current biking culture we currently enjoy.
"It was a full house with no parking available by the start of the event at 9am. The Mayor of Bella Vista, John Flynn, & the CEO of the Bella Vista POA, Tom Judson, spoke in unwavering support & enthusiasm of Blue Crane's acquisition of numerous properties previously held by the initial developer of Bella Vista, Cooper Communities, along with their Developer Rights.
The CEO of Blue Crane, Tom Walton, spoke graciously about their desire to listen & work with the community to come up with plans to have the greatest positive impacts on Bella Vista while preserving its unique qualities. Although many in attendance were eager to hear of grand unveilings, neither this nor specifics on which lands were purchased were given at this time.
Representatives from Blue Crane, the City of Bella Vista, & the Bella Vista POA stayed for several hours to have further conversations with those in attendance. They also relayed this website link to continue the conversation: https://bluecrane.us/bellavista/
And Brent’s personal take...
Bella Vista has two major guiding documents that were created over several years with the intent of laying the foundation for future development (links below). Great progress has been made towards the master trail plan despite still having much to complete. However, the surface has barely been scratched towards bringing the economic plan to fruition. There are many reasons for this, but the key to its successful implementation is having the full support of the entity who retains the "developer rights" of Bella Vista. Not only do I expect Blue Crane to be in support of the proposed concepts of the plan, they have a clear understanding of economic development and will no doubt embrace the need for Bella Vista to provide the missing link in Bella Vista's economic development - providing opportunities & reasons for people to spend their money in Bella Vista.
Blue Crane's caliber of vision & execution is evidenced in their successful endeavors we see all over NWA. In my opinion, Bella Vista has potential beyond the rest of NWA with its abundance of recreational opportunities, coupled with its proximity to Bentonville & the rest of NWA. With multiple lakes, a navigable creek through its center, and thousands of acres of common property for green spaces & trails, we truly have the potential of a ski-resort town (without skiing of course) nestled in the heart of a national forest.
Although several challenges exist such as the lack of development services (sewer for example), we finally appear to be in a position to only be limited by our imagination as to what we become."