Architects share plans for Hi-Way Inn redevelopment

Image: AMR Architects, Inc

A hotel, offices, and improvements to Cafe Rue Orleans restaurant are in the works at the former Hi-Way Inn motel property on College Avenue, according to plans shared with the Flyer over the weekend.

AMR Architects plan to redevelop the site to include a new 8-unit hotel called The Clementine on College. The project will include a new courtyard, landscaping improvements along the street, and additional parking behind Cafe Rue Orleans.

Restaurant improvements will include a rehabilitation of the original rooftop sun deck and a new patio area, the plans show.

AMR also plans to add office space on the ground floor of the restaurant for their own firm. The plans show an area for a future mixed-use structure that could be built on the south end of the property.

Crews last week began demolition work at the 0.6-acre site across from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Regional Northwest campus.

According to the plans, the building located on the north end of the property will be rehabbed for the motel and won’t need to be demolished. The building on the south end of the site and the motel rooms on the east side of the property will be removed.

A crew works to demolish the former Hi-Way Inn buildings along College Avenue on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022. (Todd Gill, Fayetteville Flyer)

Cafe Rue Orleans owner Maudie Schmitt said she was excited about the changes.

“This is a project that will take place over the next (two) years,” she said. “But it’s going to be exciting.”

The former motel was most recently used as public housing by the Fayetteville Housing Authority, and was scheduled for renovation, but instead was sold by the authority’s development nonprofit to recoup losses related to the pandemic.

The Housing Authority in 2019 had successfully rezoned the site from a commercial thoroughfare district to a community services district so the former motel rooms could be used for public housing. The community services district allows apartments, but prohibits hotels without a conditional use permit.

The property is now owned by Parti Investments, LLC, a company affiliated with AMR Architects. According to property records, Parti Investments purchased the property for $900,000 last December.

The City Council last month approved a rezoning request for the new owners, and rezoned the property to urban thoroughfare which will once again allow the property to be used as a hotel.

The district was designed for commercial uses, residential uses or a mix of the two. It allows the full spectrum of residential uses – from single-family homes to apartments – and on the non-residential sides, it allows everything from a restaurant to a big-box retail center.

Adam Day with AMR last month said he’s excited to redevelop the site into a more urbanized environment.

“We think it will bring back this property that has been neglected for some time,” Day said.


Plan renderings

Image: AMR Architects, Inc

Image: AMR Architects, Inc

Image: AMR Architects, Inc

Image: AMR Architects, Inc

Image: AMR Architects, Inc

Image: AMR Architects, Inc

Image: AMR Architects, Inc