Apartments eyed for Springfield Plaza site

The Springfield Planning & Zoning Commission approved the rezoning of 18 acres of undeveloped land at the Springfield Plaza site at its Jan. 15 meeting.

The commission approved the rezoning of 18 acres of property at 2000 S. McCurry Ave. to medium-density multifamily residential with a conditional overlay from a planned development.

The applicant, Springfield Plaza LLC, intends to build multifamily housing on the currently undeveloped land. Plans submitted to P&Z call for 21 three-story apartment buildings with a total of 421 residential units consisting primarily of one- and two-bedroom apartments.

Sparlin said the conditional overlay district limits development to 24 dwelling units per acre, though 28 are typically permitted in the requested zone.

The applicant would be required to have three amenities for residents: a swimming pool, a resident clubhouse and sport courts.

Daniel Richards of Lee Engineering & Associates Inc. spoke on behalf of the developer, whom he identified as a builder out of northwest Arkansas that has been active for the last few years.

“They’re seeking to rezone this property and build some apartments for Springfield,” he said.

Springfield Plaza LLC is registered with the Missouri secretary of state to Tim O’Reilly of 4045 E. Sunshine St., the building that houses Spokes Hospitality LLC and O’Reilly Hospitality Management LLC.

Springfield Plaza is located across West Bypass from the Sunshine Towne Center and beside a Walmart Supercenter. According to past Springfield Business Journal reporting, the commercial property is anchored by Ross Dress for Less, Burlington and Michael’s and is co-developed by Tom Rankin of SVN Rankin Co.

In a June 2025 interview with SBJ, Rankin said of the area, “Retail follows rooftops. That area, when we started, had probably the highest concentration of new housing permits than any other part of the county.”

He said at the time that less than half of the potential 106 acres of Springfield Plaza had been developed at the time.

A City Council hearing is set for Feb. 9.

The commission included three new faces, with Jennifer McClure, Christopher Souliere and David Jacquez replacing Betty Ridge, Christopher Lebeck and Bruce Colony, whose terms expired. Members of the commission are appointed by Springfield City Council to four-year terms.

Randall Doennig was reelected as chair of the commission, and Dan Scott was reelected as vice chair.

Airport property

Parcels totaling 726 acres of property near the Springfield-Branson National Airport were unanimously approved for rezoning to heavy manufacturing from a county designation of agricultural.

The applicant was the city of Springfield’s airport board.

The city zoning code does not offer an agricultural designation, according to the staff report by Senior Planner Michael Sparlin.

The property is described as being generally located to the north and southwest of the existing airport. Addresses are 2300 N. Airport Blvd., 5703 and 5995 W. Farm Road 104, 3521 N. Farm Road 115, 4043 N. Willard Road, the 3900 block of North Farm Road 103, 4720 W. State Highway EE and the 5700 block of W. State Highway EE.

Sparlin said the rezoning consolidates all airport property under one code with airport operations as the primary use. He said the airport’s master code was adopted in July 2024.

A rendering submitted to the commission shows a new runway as a plan for the future, but Director of Aviation Brian Weiler described that as a plan for the distant future.

“We really have no specific immediate development that is spurring this,” Weiler said. “We’ve owned most of this land for decades; we would like it to all be consistent.”

He said the runway envisioned for the property has been in the airport’s master plan since 1971.

“We tend to plan out many decades ahead,” he said. “You need to do that for the airport, because we’re the airport, and we’re going to be serving this area for likely the next century or so, so we really can’t own too much land, so we buy it, we protect it, but it is for future aeronautical development.”

The owner of adjoining property at 6220 W. Farm Road 94 raised a concern about the shift from agriculture to heavy industrial. He suggested that the city offer an agricultural zoning designation to avoid the big change in the nature of the property.

“In the future we have no way to change or correct this,” he said.

A City Council hearing is set for Feb. 9.

Other action items

• The commission approved the rezoning of a half-acre property in the 1100 block of East Elm Street to renovate the New-Way apartment unit, located beside Andy’s Frozen Custard, to general retail with conditional overlay from high-density multifamily. The conditional overlay limits the property to residential uses, despite the general retail designation. The measure is scheduled to appear before City Council Feb. 9.

• A request to approve rezoning of a half-acre property at 3005 W. Chestnut Expressway to industrial commercial from general manufacturing was approved for applicant ABC Supply Co. Inc., which seeks to operate retail sales uses on the property.

• The commission approved a subdivision variance to combine two driveways into a 26-foot-wide entrance with one-way access from Jefferson Avenue, as requested by SPFLD RE Holdings LLC and Sister Properties LLC. The entrance will facilitate a bank drive-thru and a bypass lane to go around the drive-thru, according to Jack Medows of engineering company Archer-Elgin. The drives currently in place serve 334 E. Walnut St. and 417 S. Jefferson Ave.

• A street name change for the 200 block of east to the 400 block of west Blaine Street to Blaine Lane as requested by the Commercial Club of Springfield and directed to P&Z by City Council. Mary Collette, president of the Commercial Club, explained that the street name change is part of a rebranding effort for the area. “Sometimes it’s the little things that make a street stand out,” she said. Eric Pauly praised the community effort behind the move. Commissioner Helen Gunther cast the sole no vote in the 8-1 recommendation after confirming that the city would have to pay for the expenses of the name change.

• A short-term rental appeal was denied for 1618 E. Adams St. Gunther and McClure cast the sole yes votes.