SBDC tours Solo Cup building

The vacancy rate in Springfield’s industrial sector is low, which presents an opportunity for developers interested in building speculative warehouse or manufacturing facilities.

That was the message delivered by representatives of the Springfield Business Development Corp. and panelists this morning discussing the local industrial market at the former Solo Cup plant, 1100 N. Glenstone Ave.

The SBDC organized a tour of the 1.35-million-square-foot Solo Cup building following the panel discussion.

Jeff Seifried, manager of regional development for the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, served as moderator of the panel that featured Tom Rankin of Sperry Van Ness/Rankin Co., Rick Quint of Q and Co. LLC and Dale Sandy of Tank Components Industries.

Seifried cited a 4.3 percent direct vacancy rate - square footage actively being marketed by an agent -  in the industrial sector as a reason the market is ripe for industrial development.

“This is something we’ve been talking about at the Springfield chamber and the Springfield Business Development Corp. for more than 12 months now. Brokers in the room can attest that I think we are starting to feel that squeeze,” Seifried said, adding the Solo Cup property is one of the few properties developers can show to potential businesses looking to move to the Queen City.

To put the vacancy figure in perspective, he said those who attended the recent community leadership visit to Omaha, Neb., learned the industrial vacancy rate there is roughly 11 percent.

Rankin said his development company is currently building a 64,000-square-foot speculative property at North Creek Business Park to help meet the demand.

Quint, whose company is currently building a loading dock on the north side of the Solo Cup building, said there are pros and cons to building before a buyer or tenant is in place. He said his company has built a speculative industrial building in Terra Haute, Ind., that has generated much attention but no tenants, so far.

“It has been there a year, and it’s still not leased. But you’ve got to have something for businesses to look at,” Quint said.

Sandy said TCI moved into its new headquarters in Partnership Industrial Center West last year after it found a 60,000-square-foot shell building.

“That saved us three months on construction,” Sandy said, adding there were only two available buildings in Springfield that met the company’s size requirements when it began shopping the market in spring 2012.

Following the panel discussion, Solo Cup building owners Warren Davis and Patrick Harrington of Warren Davis Properties led a tour of the available space with the roughly 60 SBDC members who attended the event.

Davis said the sprawling former plant now only had 340,000 square feet of available space. Davis Properties bought the plant as Solo was winding down operations in August 2010, and in the past year, has signed new tenants Buckhorn Inc. and Reckitt Benckiser to around 170,000 square feet combined. Davis has said plans also are in the works to build two 125,000-square-foot buildings behind the former plant.[[In-content Ad]]