Chaffee Crossing is a 7,000-acre mixed-use community under the direction of the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority (FCRA). The development is guided by a future land use plan that includes residential, historical, recreational, commercial, retail, restaurant, and industrial development. Land and existing buildings are available for sale at competitive market rates. Street, sewer and water infra
structure exists throughout the property. FCRA partners with the cities of Fort Smith and Barling on new infrastructure projects. Businesses located at Chaffee Crossing enjoy easy access to Interstate 40, Interstate 49 and Interstate 540. A section of future I-49 (AR 549) connecting Canada to the Gulf Coast at New Orleans passes through the heart of Chaffee Crossing. Forty-two residential developments with more than 4,000 units are in various states of completion. These include single-family homes for purchase or rent, apartments, townhomes, and duplexes. Chaffee Crossing is home to the 500-acre campus of the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education which includes the Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine, schools of physical and occupational therapy, and a one-year Masters of Biomedicine degree program. A physician assistant medical degree program is currently pending final accreditation. Arkansas Tech University-Ozark and other educational organizations offer classes at Chaffee Crossing. Tourists enjoy visiting the Chaffee Barbershop Museum where Elvis Presley received his famous G.I. haircut. This museum and the Museum of Chaffee History are located in the Chaffee Crossing Historic District. The original Fort Chaffee barbershop has been restored to the same condition it was on March 23, 1958 when Elvis first walked through the door. Adjacent to the museums is the Chaffee Crossing Veterans Memorial with personally engraved bricks honoring veterans of All wars and all branches of U.S. military service. The Chaffee Crossing Entertainment District encompasses parts of the Historic District. A microbrewery, a Winfrey, retail businesses, commercial offices, a recording studio, event venues, and more are fast helping the area become an entertainment and event destination. Twenty-three former Army barrack buildings are being renovated for commercial, retail, and restaurant spaces on the ground floor with live above apartments and Airbnb rental units on the second floor. Amenities in the community include miles of hiking, biking and multi-use trails that connect to the Fort Smith trails system and Ben Geren Regional Park trails and amenities. Chaffee Crossing is also home to the Janet Huckabee Arkansas River Valley Nature Center, fishing and canoeing on Wells Lake, Deer Trails Country Club and Golf Course, the Chaffee Crossing Pickleball Complex, soccer fields, softball practice fields, McClure Amphitheater, William O. Darby RV Park, and many acres of land to explore and enjoy nature. Chaffee Crossing is the result of a 1995 BRAC Commission action that gifted 7,000 acres of Fort Chaffee property to the state of Arkansas. The Arkansas legislature formed the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority Public Tryst, the only public trust in the state, to oversee the strategic development of the land for public benefit. FCRA is guided by a nine-member volunteer Board of Trustees.
