A Conversation With ... Warren Davis

Davis Properties once owned numerous iconic Springfield properties, including the Heer’s, McDaniel and Woodruff buildings. What properties are you working on now?
Right now, Solo Cup is the biggest project we have at 80 acres and 1.35 million square feet. We purchased that in December 2010 and they leased it until September ’11, when they moved out. Then we started trying to develop it. By May ’12, we had 230,000 feet leased to SRC in a complete remodel. In September, we leased 120,000 feet to Buckhorn. Then in February/March, we leased 100,000 feet to Reckitt Benckiser. In June, we just leased another 80,000 to them. We are about 80 percent leased up now.

On that project, there is a lot of construction going on outside and out front. We are getting ready to build two (100,000-square-foot) buildings on that property for warehouses. They will have taller, 28-foot ceilings. I haven’t leased the front office yet – that’s 20,000 feet. That will determine what happens to the cup.

How did the Solo Cup building enter your radar?
Eight years ago, I was interested in buying it from Lilly. They needed some money for capital improvements. I about had it purchased and was going to lease it back to them and they ended up selling it to Solo. That put it on hold for five or six years. I contacted Solo and tried the same thing with a lease purchase. That’s when they decided to shut it down. We went ahead and purchased anyway.

Would you consider the Heer’s building a failed project?
The Heer’s was not a failure; it was a matter of an insurance problem that took about six or seven years to get the insurance claim through court. The jury awarded me $2.5 million and I turned around and sold it a year later. The Heer’s is really going to happen this time. I bought the Woodruff in June 1994 and a couple months later bought the McDaniel. Then in 1995, July or August, I bought the Heer’s and we had it for eight-and-a-half years. We are the ones who took off the glass frame. We decided it would take too long to develop it and wanted to move on to other things. There have been some problems after that getting it developed. We were spending about $10 or $11 million and I think these developers are at $12 or $15 million, but what they are doing will definitely add to the city. They are doing it right; retail on the first floor and condos or lofts from the second up.

What is your approach to developing?
When you first get started, you buy. Like when I sold the Woodruff and McDaniel, you sell them when they reach their peak. You move on to bigger and better. After a few years, you start keeping property. Most of the property you keep long term. An example of that is Glen Isle Shopping Center, I’ve had about 15 years. A big one downtown is the Bank of America building on the square that Missouri State University leases. We have had that about 15 years. Those were keeper-type properties. The bigger the buildings, the more likely I’m going to keep them. After a while, about 95 percent turn into something you keep long term.

Most of my projects are cash buys because the bank won’t loan money on an empty building. Most people won’t take that risk because they don’t know what is going to happen with the building. When we bought Circuit City, I thought it was going to be retail and it turned into a school. You have to see what comes along that fits the situation. You’ve also got to make it look different. If it still looks like a grocery store, that’s not going to work. Think outside the box, don’t be afraid of it.

Do you have plans to retire for a second time?
I retired 31 years ago and it lasted probably two weeks. I love being busy, I love doing things and I like the activity and action. I like making the deals.

My daughter Kimberly Harrington and son-in-law Patrick Harrington, and a crew of 10, run the company. I’m more into going out and buying properties. I work with them on these bigger projects and decide what to do with them. It’s my hobby. It has been for 20 years and I love it. I’m not retiring.