A two-acre parcel at a highly traveled east Springfield intersection could soon get developed.
Developer Ken Schwab has plans to build on the property at 3810 E. Sunshine St., at the southeast corner of Sunshine and Blackman Road.
If Springfield City Council approves a request to rezone the property, just east of Sam's Club, as an O-1 office district, a full-service Empire Bank would be constructed. It would be the bank's ninth Springfield branch, according to President and CEO Russ Marquart.
A design has not been finalized for the bank, which Schwab would build and sell to Empire Bank upon completion; Chief Financial Officer Jim Brandenburg, speaking at the Sept. 15 meeting when council first heard the rezoning request, noted that the bank would be designed to blend with the neighboring residential properties to the east and south.
"We don't do cookie-cutter bank buildings; we try to design to the site and the properties that surround us," Brandenburg said.
The location fits the bank's plans to expand its presence in east Springfield, especially along the developing East Sunshine Street corridor. Brandenburg added that the city's recently completed $3 million improvements and widening of Blackman Road made the property even more attractive.
Schwab said that if council rezones the site, and Empire Bank receives regulatory approval, work should begin on the bank site this year. Council is expected to vote on the proposal at its Sept. 29 meeting.
Schwab, who is under contract to purchase two acres of the property for an undisclosed amount from Christian Church of Mid-America Inc., said he originally intended to buy the entire five acres of undeveloped land at the site, but objections from neighboring residents caused him to change his plans.
"I originally wanted to have office use for the southern (three acres)," Schwab said. "It's my hope that I can come back at some point in the future when I have a specific user in mind, so (the neighbors) can see exactly where the buildings are going to go. That way, when I can show them specifically where everything is going to be, it should alleviate some of their worries."
Neighboring property owners, however, continued at the council meeting to express concern about developing the south portion of the plot.
Homeowner Fred Hamburg, speaking on behalf of other homeowners near the site, said that while they did not oppose the Empire Bank development, residents continued to be worried about grading issues that would require the south property to be built up 20 feet, which would make potential office developments tower above the neighboring homes.
"We feel that Empire Bank is certainly a reliable and responsible property owner," Hamburg told council. "But ... we're opposed to any project that takes the south part of the property, elevates it 20 feet above our heads and puts office buildings next to our houses."
Partly due to neighbors' protests, Schwab changed his designs for the property at least twice; original plans presented in November 2007 called for a retail center on the site.
Schwab, who has developed National Park Plaza and Georgetown Square, said he is sensitive to the wishes of homeowners, but he also noted that the property is at the intersection of an arterial road and a secondary arterial road, which is usually a prime site for commercial use.
"Yes, it should be buffered, because it would be retail next to a neighborhood," Schwab said. "But that (proximity) is not necessarily a bad thing - it just needs to be handled properly."[[In-content Ad]]
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