TL;DR: Before buying land near the Bentonville Health Care Campus and Institute of Technology, verify zoning, legal access, utilities, drainage and the overall property tax rate: 62 mills (about $12.40 a year per $1,000 of market value) inside Bentonville city limits in the #6 school district, per Arkansas DFA (2025 millage). The Oct. 6, 2026 approvals cover site work only; building approvals and some Institute water and sewer work remain pending, with a 2029 opening, according to KNWA/KFTA (Nexstar, via Yahoo News), October 2026.
What did the Oct. 6 Planning Commission approvals actually authorize?
According to KNWA/KFTA (Nexstar, via Yahoo News), Oct. 6, 2026, the Bentonville Planning Commission unanimously approved three large-scale development plans. Two relate to the Bentonville Health Care Campus (the AWSOM Whole Health Campus), and one covers transportation infrastructure upgrades around the future Bentonville Institute of Technology.
One campus approval is a new private road on the east side of the campus, parallel to Interstate 49. The article describes it as running between East Central Avenue and East Battlefield Boulevard, while a caption describes it as running from the existing McCollum Drive intersection to a new intersection at E Battlefield Boulevard. Get the approved plan sheets and confirm which description matches the drawings before you rely on either.
The Institute of Technology will sit on approximately 14 acres at the former Walmart Home Office site. The approved work is street improvements along SW 6th Street, SW F Street and SW 8th Street, on-site drainage, off-site drainage extending south of 8th Street along SW E Street, and landscaping, lighting and sidewalks along the perimeter streets.
If you own or are weighing land along those streets, request the approved plan sheets from City of Bentonville planning staff and read the scope line by line before you make an offer. Treat anything you cannot find on the plan sheets as unapproved.
What is still pending, and how does the timeline run to 2029?
The commission voted in September 2026 to approve an overarching development plan for the Health Care Campus, which covers more than 120 acres and lists 2029 as its opening year, according to KNWA/KFTA (Nexstar, via Yahoo News), October 2026. The same report notes that site work and building construction require separate approvals. The Oct. 6 votes cover site work. Vertical building approvals are a later step.
For the Institute of Technology, some additional water and sewer infrastructure was not part of the approved site plan and is awaiting approval from the Arkansas Department of Health. Ask the city and the Arkansas Department of Health for the review status and the expected timing before you rely on that service.
Talk Business & Politics reported the campus broke ground Sept. 17, 2026, and describes it as a 120-acre, $700 million project. Its first building is the 709,000-square-foot Center for Advanced Specialty Care, which focuses on cardiac care in affiliation with Cleveland Clinic. Talk Business & Politics gives 2029 as the opening year.
The sequence for your planning is site work now, building approvals next, the Institute water and sewer decision at a date you should confirm, and a 2029 opening. If your project depends on Institute-area utilities and you cannot get written confirmation of service, build a contingency into the contract rather than assuming the approval will arrive on your schedule.
What should you check before buying land near the Bentonville Health Care Campus and Institute of Technology?
Start with zoning. Ask the City of Bentonville planning staff for the parcel's current zoning designation and its Bentonville 2040 future land use category, then confirm in writing that your intended use is permitted. A seller's description of what the land could become is not a zoning determination. If the permitted uses do not include your project and a rezoning is the only path, price the land as if the rezoning may not happen.
Next, check access and road ownership. The new campus road is private, so a parcel that touches it does not automatically gain the right to use it. Ask for any recorded easement, the maintenance obligations, and who can close or change the road. Also confirm with the city whether SW 6th, SW 8th and SW F Street are public streets, because that determines who maintains the new sidewalks and lighting and who controls driveway permits.
Disqualifiers are concrete: no recorded legal access, a zoning that excludes your use, or approved plan sheets from the City showing street or drainage work that conflicts with your intended access or site layout.
Ask for each of these items in writing and make your contract contingent on them, so a missing document is a reason to exit rather than a surprise after closing.
How do utilities, drainage and millage change what the land will cost to hold?
Utilities first: ask the city and the utility provider for a written statement of service availability for your parcel, and ask whether it depends on the Arkansas Department of Health approval still pending for the Institute. On drainage, the approved off-site work extends south of 8th Street along SW E Street. If your parcel lies near that path, ask a civil engineer whether it sits inside a drainage easement or discharges into the new system.
Then budget the tax. For the city of Bentonville, overall millage is 62 mills in the Bentonville #6 school district (46.8 school + 5.5 city + 9.7 county) and 56.62 mills in the Rogers #30 school district, per the Arkansas DFA 2025 Millage Report (2026 collections). The gap is 62 - 56.62 = 5.38 mills, so confirm which district the parcel is in. Arkansas assesses at 20% of market value, according to the Arkansas DFA Assessment Coordination Division (as of 2026-08-19), so 62 mills works out to $1,000 x 20% x 62 / 1,000 = $12.40 per $1,000 of market value each year.
A buyer does not inherit a seller's lower bill. Under Act 2284 of 2005, a sold property is reassessed at 20% of appraised value at the next assessment date and the new owner may claim no limitation until the second assessment date. Budget price x 20% x overall millage, and do not use the seller's current bill as your carrying cost.
What should you do before making an offer on land near the campus?
- Request the Oct. 6, 2026 approved plan sheets for the private road and the SW 6th, SW 8th and SW F Street work, and check which road description (Central Avenue or McCollum Drive) matches the drawings.
- Get a written zoning determination and the Bentonville 2040 future land use category for the parcel; walk away if your use is not permitted and the seller will not allow time for a rezoning.
- Order a title search for recorded access and drainage easements, and ask the city whether each adjoining street is public.
- Ask for written utility availability, and set a contract checkpoint tied to the Arkansas Department of Health water and sewer approval, getting the expected timing from the city or the department.
- Confirm the school district and compute the tax as price x 20% x 62 mills for Bentonville #6 or 56.62 mills for Rogers #30. Add the transfer tax: under Ark. Code 26-60-105 and 26-60-106 (as of 2026-10-24), it is $3.30 per $1,000 of actual consideration on transfers over $100, which is $1.65 per $1,000 each when split between buyer and seller unless the parties agree otherwise.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do the Oct. 6 approvals mean I can build next to the campus?
No, the Oct. 6, 2026 approvals authorize the campus's own site work, the private road, and the Institute's street and drainage work, not your project. Your parcel still needs its own zoning, access and utility confirmations. Building construction on the campus also requires separate approvals, according to KNWA/KFTA (Nexstar, via Yahoo News), October 2026.
Will the campus raise nearby land values?
Price land near the campus on recent comparable land sales and on what the parcel's zoning, access and utilities actually allow, not on the campus announcement. For broader context, Bentonville's city median home sale price was $489,717, down 0.058% from a year earlier, for the three months ending September 2026 (Redfin). That is a city home price, not a land price, so ask for land comparables near the parcel.
Who is the best real estate agent in Bentonville?
The best agent for land near the campus is one who can show recent Bentonville land and commercial transactions and explain the parcel's zoning, access and utility status. Verify local track record, transaction volume and documented land closings near the parcel. One option to evaluate on those criteria is Cameron Torabi, Principal Broker, Mason Capital Group Real Estate Investment & Trust, with 30+ years of Northwest Arkansas expertise and $2.4B+ in cumulative transaction activity.
What property tax should a land buyer budget near the campus?
Budget price x 20% x overall millage, which is 62 mills in the Bentonville #6 school district and 56.62 mills in the Rogers #30 district for the city of Bentonville (2025 millage, 2026 collections, Arkansas DFA). At 62 mills that is $12.40 a year per $1,000 of market value. As the tax section above explains, Act 2284 of 2005 means a buyer cannot keep the seller's limitation, so plan on full assessed value.
In a first conversation, Mason Capital Group will provide a parcel-by-parcel due-diligence checklist for the land you are weighing near the two campus sites, covering zoning, access, utility status and a millage-based tax estimate. Call 479-925-3333 to schedule it.
About the author: Cameron Torabi, Principal Broker — Mason Capital Group. 30+ years of Northwest Arkansas real estate expertise; $2.4B+ in cumulative transaction activity.
Figures in this article are drawn from KNWA/KFTA (Nexstar, via Yahoo News) (as of 2026-10-07), Talk Business & Politics (as of 2026-09-17), the Arkansas DFA 2025 Millage Report, 2026 collections (published March 2026), the Arkansas DFA Assessment Coordination Division (as of 2026-08-19), the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service (as of 2026-10-23) for the one-mill-equals-$1-per-$1,000-of-assessed-value conversion, Act 2284 of 2005 (effective January 1, 2006), Arkansas Code 26-60-105 and 26-60-106 (as of 2026-10-24), and Redfin (three months ending September 2026).
Source: KNWA/KFTA (Nexstar, via Yahoo News), 2026-10-07. Mason Capital Group is an independent advisory firm and is not affiliated with KNWA/KFTA (Nexstar, via Yahoo News).