A recent mid-year 2024 industrial property update from Palmer Hays suggests that industrial space is still a growing market in Northwest Arkansas, but recent trends show some cooling.

Hays, an industrial and land specialist with Rogers-based Bennett Commercial Real Estate, notes that construction-related companies are the most active in leasing industrial space in the second quarter of 2024.

“Drywall, plumbing, electrical, audio/visual, smaller trades, you name it … they’re signing leases faster than anyone … they try to keep up with the constant flow of new residents and commercial development projects,” he noted.

He said 51.2% of more than 174,000 square feet of industrial space leases in the second quarter was with construction and real estate tenants.

“I’ve not tracked this stat in the past, but I’d venture to say this [is] higher than average,” he wrote.

Hays’ research indicates that industrial space rent is up 5.9% through the year, lower than the 9.7% rise in 2023 and the 11.1% increase in 2022. He believes rents are trending lower because tenants have “more negotiation power.” Part of that power comes from what Hays suggests is a “hypersupply” of flex space combined with “overzealous asking rents.” The price point fluctuation rarely fails to respond to supply and demand realities.

According to Hays, industrial space vacancy is at 3.7%, up from 2% in 2022 but well below historical averages of 7.5%. However, he thinks the rising vacancy percentage will be a headwind for rent rates.

“I believe rents may become somewhat stagnant for a few years as the existing inventory will take a bit of time to lease up,” Hays noted.

The supply-demand relationship may also be reflected in recent deals. In the past 90 days, industrial space sold had an average per-square-foot value of $111.95, below the $112.83 per square foot in the previous 90-day report.

But on the other hand, as there often is with economic variables, Hays suggests overzealous rents help push prices higher for vacant industrial property.

“End users remain the wild card in the current market, consistently placing the highest bids on vacant properties in recent memory. They recognize the value of controlling their own destiny and prefer to secure their own spaces rather than contend with rising rents,” he said.

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Saturday’s practice for Arkansas was moved back a couple of hours to about 7 p.m. to get a safe window to stay outside. Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman prefers that, probably because it gets to spread everybody out and it is better for conditioning.

For offensive-minded folks, it gives an interesting glimpse to watch new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino and his subtle ways of working with quarterback Taylen Green and the backups. With video being the way everything is broken down these days, he probably doesn’t have to yell as much on the field as he did in histime as head coach from 2008-11.

A lot of people want to see that fire and on-field coaching style the media loves to talk about. With the exception of a normal coaches’ move moving a wide receiver out of a drill that was kinda blown out of proportion, there hasn’t been much to see.

Age also has a little to do with it. Riding around the area around his home in a golf cart with his granddaughter is a side of Petrino most folks couldn’t imagine over a decade ago. On the field, he’s working exclusively with the quarterbacks now and coaching details.

The little nuances he points out to the players in individual drills is interesting. From release point on passes to fine-tuning footwork, he’s working on them being as close to perfect as it can get. It’s probably never perfect, but right now they are doing touch-ups on offensive install and getting the pattern established for the games.

That will start against UAPB at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Ark., on Aug. 29. The offense will be ready for that game. A guess is it will be a chance to get some final evaluations on players working against somebody other than a teammate before taking the trip to Stillwater, Okla., to play Oklahoma State the second week.

Watching Petrino point out to Green one time he needed to throw the ball in a place he didn’t brought back a back a long-ago memory. The pass Green threw was only off maybe six inches or so.

It was almost like watching Bill Walsh coaching the San Francisco 49ers in 1982 and emphasizing Joe Montana needed to throw a pass exactly 6 inches to one side of a receiver on a route. We found out later from Montana that didn’t mean 5 inches, either, which is what he threw.

“I missed it a little,” Montana said with a smile. “He wants it exact.”

Petrino is probably that way, too. He realizes, of course, most of the time he’s not working with the arm of a Hall of Famer that is as accurate. That doesn’t mean he’s not trying to develop that perfection.

Razorback fans are counting on that offensive magic of 2010-11, which was during a 21-5 run.. The problem is there is no evidence the talent is there right now to do that. This roster isn’t as good as what he had in his first season as the Hogs’ head coach in 2008.

This team may have some folks that develop into that, but nobody knows they are going to be there now. They haven’t shown it in years past and you can’t really gauge practices.

Petrino knows all that. He’s just trying to work with what he’s got and make it the best it can be. In today’s world, nobody knows what’s going to happen with the transfer portal, NIL and the mental state of teenagers these days. Every coach knows they could be developing them for somebody else.

It appears to be a much more relaxed Petrino. We saw that in the spring and now in just four practices of fall camp, it looks to be very detailed instruction for the quarterbacks on little things most folks don’t even think about.

Which was probably what Pittman was thinking when he hired him in December. After last year’s problems and having a coordinator that was obviously distracted by things we may not have even known about, getting some attention to detail may go a long way to at least making a bowl game. Or even better.

HOGS FEED:

• Razorback legend makes cameo at latest Hogs’ commitment anouncement

• Oklahoma double dip: Razorbacks gain second 2026 commitment of day from Sooner State

• Razorbacks hold off Georgia, LSU, OK State for top prospect in Oklahoma

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The University of Arkansas football program had a successful Saturday recruiting with two commitments from the 2025 class and two for the 2026 class.

Junior college defensive back Shannon Blair kicked off the day as the first prospect to pledge.

Blair, 6-1 and 190 pounds, of East Mississippi Community College also had scholarship offers from Memphis, Liberty, Western Kentucky, Charlotte, Texas-San Antonio and others. He visited Arkansas for the Hogwild Hangout on July 27. 

“I chose Arkansas because how genuine and real the coaching staff is. Also another reason was because it’s in the SEC, the closest conference to the NFL, and I wanted to come back to the SEC and show my talent,” he said.

He was recruited by co-defensive coordinator Marcus Woodson.

He was a 3-star prospect out of Knoxville [Tenn.] West High School and committed to Tennessee as a preferred walk-on after missing his senior season after suffering a torn ACL in the first game of the season.

He committed to Michigan State and had offers from Duke, Virginia, Purdue and others, but his lead recruiter left the Spartans for another job and he eventually committed to Tennessee.

Blair had 23 tackles and 4 interceptions as a freshman at East Mississippi after spending a year at Tennessee. He plans to enroll at Arkansas in January as a member of the 2025 class.

One week after visiting Arkansas, 4-star junior defensive end Colton Yarbrough verbally committed.

Yarbrough, 6-5 and 240 pounds, of Durant, Okla., named Arkansas, Georgia, Oklahoma State, LSU and Colorado as his top five on Wednesday before choosing the Razorbacks.

He visited Arkansas for the Hogwild Hangout. He previously visited Fayetteville for the Liberty game in 2022, last year’s Hogwild Hangout and a Junior Day in January.

Yarbrough, who has an 82-inch wingspan, was recruited by Arkansas defensive line coach Deke Adams, quality control analyst Kelvin Green and graduate assistant Tyrone Hopper.

He credited Adams and Coach Sam Pittman for his decision.

“They’ve been really consistent with me. … Coach Adams, he’s a really legendary coach, honestly,” he said. “Coach Sam Pittman is an electric guy. He’s from Oklahoma.”

Adams thinks Yarbrough can develop and be similar to Arkansas defensive end Landon Jackson.

“When I get there, they want be to be the next Landon Jackson,” Yarbrough said.

He also had offers from Oregon, Michigan State, Penn State, Miami, Washington State, Tennessee and others.

Rivals and 247Sports rate him a 4-star prospect, with Rivals rating him as the No. 9 edge rusher in his class.

Class of 2026 safety Adam Auston announced his decision about 30 minutes after Yarbrough.

Auston, 6-2 and 212 pounds, of Lawton (Okla.) MacArthur chose the Razorbacks over Missouri, Oklahoma State, Baylor and Kansas State. He visited Arkansas for the first time during the Hogwild Hangout.

He also had offers from TCU, Colorado, Texas Tech, Vanderbilt, Iowa State, Washington State, UNLV and Houston. He broke down his reasons for choosing the Razorbacks.

“They’ve been consistent the whole time since they offered me, even before they offered me,” Auston said during a live interview with Rivals. “They were always texting me seeing how I was doing and everything like that and then when I went up there for the visit it just sealed the deal. They were great to my mom, my sister. It was just a great thing.”

Arkansas co-defensive coordinator Marcus Woodson, who was his lead recruiter, stayed in contact with Auston.

“Calling me, texting me how I was doing, everything like that,” Auston said. “Little things like that led to the decision.”

Auston recorded 92 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 4 pass breakups, 2 recovered fumbles, 1 forced fumble and returned 2 interceptions for touchdowns as a sophomore.

On3.com rates him a 3-star recruit and the No. 36 safety in the 2026 class. Yarbrough and Auston are the fourth and fifth commitments for the 2026 class.

Little Rock Parkview running back Cameron Settles also verbally committed to Arkansas’ 2025 class Saturday.

Settles, 6-0 and 198 pounds, had scholarship offers from Oregon State, SMU, Memphis, Tulsa, Arkansas State and others.

He had 96 carries for 979 yards and 20 touchdowns last year for the Class 5A state champions and recorded 33 tackles, 10 pass breakups and 2 interceptions.

Settles, who was recruited by Arkansas running backs coach Kolby Smith, made an official visit to Fayetteville on June 14-16. He also officially visited Yale.

He has recorded a 315-pound bench press, 505-pound squat and 315-pound power clean. He has been clocked at 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash and has a 36-inch vertical jump.

Parkview Coach Brad Bolding, who coached the late North Little Rock and Alabama running back Altee Tenpenny, said Settles is an outstanding prospect.

“He’s another one of those players that can do it all,” Bolding said. “He’s one of the best corners we’ve had. I’ve coached running backs for 20 years and Cameron is in that upper echelon of great backs I’ve been blessed to coach.”

Settles and Blair are the 20th and 21st commitments for the 2025 class.