Jeff:
When I had my business, I bought a Bridgewood open end wide belt sander. I left the platen down and used it to sand the knife marks out of planed faces of molded base, and for sanding S4S material to make it orbital sander ready. If you run material through the same spot on the sander, it has a very decent level of consistency from piece to piece.
As I was limited by space, amperage, phase, and price considerations, it was what I wound up buying. It served its purpose, and I still have it in my retirement play shop.
Whoever says that you can run wider boards and flip them through the open arm must have a very low standard for smoothness and precision. Anything that is cantilevered is going to sag, and be more subject to forces on the open arm end that would not be the case if the end were fixed. That flipping concept is more sales hype than reality; you are buying whatever width sander you are buying.
It really depends on what you are going to run through it. If I had it to do again, with the same restrictions, I would have spent a couple more grand and gotten a single phase 25" wide belt, a much sturdier machine with a higher degree of precision from side to side.
You may not be able to replicate the quality of what you are currently having done by your local supplier with an open end sander. Again, it depends on what you are running through it, and what you need.
Good luck.
TonyF