Springfieldians developing $30M Arkansas complex

A group of Springfield investors have plans in the works to build a $30 million apartment complex in the northwest Arkansas city of Bentonville.

The developer, BC Center LLC, hired Springfield architecture firm H Design Group LLC, general contractor BP Builders LLC and property manager Affiniti Management Services LLC for the 292,000-square-foot project located near the Bentonville Community Center and a new Mercy clinic. Bentonville-based CEI Engineering Associates Inc. is the civil engineer on the project.

Through BC Center, the investor members are Springfield businessmen Lonnie Funk, president of Affiniti Management Services, BP Builders’ Howard Bailey, John Youngblood of Youngblood Auto Group and wealth management adviser John Calhoun.

“The concept is designed specifically for this rapidly growing area,” Funk said of the northwest Arkansas area where the population grew by more than 11,500 people between 2015 and 2016.

Funk said the group plans to break ground in September on the development dubbed I Street Apartments, with completion targeted for fall 2018. The multifamily complex is designed for 238 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, a pool, pet park and social gathering spaces.

It’s not the first time Funk has partnered with Bailey, Youngblood and Calhoun. The investors worked together to build Springfield’s Sleep Inn-Medical District and Bentonville’s LaQuinta Inn and Suites, according to a 2009 business spotlight on Funk’s Rolling Oaks Group of Cos. LLC.