By John LovettTimes Recordjlovett@swtimes.com

The Warehouse at Chaffee Crossing, a row of several 9,000-square-foot World War II era warehouses, soon willbe turned into a mixed-used development with an engineering firm and pizza pub.

Scott Archer, principal engineer with HSA Engineering Consulting Services in Fort Smith, is a partner in the Diades Investments project and said the timeline for site work is pending final approval by the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Design Review Committee and the final details of a bank loan.

The committee meeting was set for Thursday and rescheduled to 2 p.m. Feb. 21. FCRA Executive Director Ivy Owen could not make the meetingbecause ofillness.

Archer noted the firms commitment to the project.

The firm has to move, because right now were homeless, Archer said.

Site work will include new sidewalks and railing on the exterior.

Last March, the FCRA accepted a bid of $100,000 from Archer and Diades Investments for the whole row, a 2.27-acre block of five warehouses, in the 7400 block of Ellis Street across from the historic barracks. The move tipped off an unexpected redevelopment of two rows of old warehouses not far from the Museum of Chaffee History and Chaffee Barbershop Museum. Old Fort Furniture opened in a warehouse last August opposite the Diades Investment project.

Current plans call for The Warehouse at Chaffee Crossing call for a Napoletana-style pizza pub with a nano-brewery that will be capable of producing about 100-gallons of beer per brew. The pizza pub will be next to the engineering firm, and the remaining three 9,000-square-foot warehouses are up for grabs.

First come, first serve, Archer said to entrepreneurs who offer their plans.

A bicycle shop and office space are options suggested by Archer as prime candidates for the mixed-use redevelopment in the three remaining warehouses on that row.

Although there are two interested parties with ideas to house a restaurant in one of those remaining three buildings, there have been no official commitments or plans with dedicated funding attributed. One of the three buildings, however, is currently being used as a storage facility by a local church and those items are set to be relocated further down to Building 5 in the row.

The pizza pub will be in Building 1 with a theme to honor local military units and Fort Chaffees history. The location is directly behind another microbrewery in development by Fort Smith Brewing Co.

Building 2 will house HSA Engineers offices. Archer said his business partner, Rob May, suggested the move last year to the warehouses. Interior wooden beams will be exposed to offer vaulted ceilings as done by Randy DeCanter and his family at Old Fort Furniture on the opposite side of the warehouse district.

If tenants become available during construction, well roll that into Building 3, Archer explained. All of them should be filled within a five-year time span.

Although they have long wanted to have a Napoletana-style pizza place to call their own, Archer said he and his wife, Stacey, found inspiration and help in planning the pizza pub from Anthony Valnotti ofDeLucas Pizzeria in Hot Springs.Scott Archer is also an award-winning home brewer.

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Pizza pub, offices on tap in The Warehouses at Chaffee Crossing in Fort Smith - Times Record