Buyers plan retail development for HoJo property

With the south Springfield Howard Johnson Inn and Conference Center under contract for purchase, the buyers plan to demolish the 192-room hotel and turn the property into a retail development.

Brad Thessing of Thessing Commercial Properties LLC, who is under contract to purchase the 3333 S. Glenstone Ave. property with Kevin Guffey of central Missouri-based American Realty & Development, said the developers would work to build a 60,000-square-foot retail facility.

Thessing, who declined to disclose purchase terms from hotel owner Morris Group Properties Inc., said a timeline on the project has not been set. Hotel operations are scheduled to cease Sept. 8, according to Lance Watson, controller for hotel owner Morris Group Properties Inc. The sale sets into motion retirement plans for owner Jim D. Morris,  Watson said.

“Our plan is to create new tenants within the marketplace,” Thessing said of the roughly 8-acre property. “It will be new retailers.”

Declining to disclose potential tenants, Thessing said, “No comment,” when asked about the possibility of West Coast-based Trader Joe’s – which reportedly has expressed interest in the Springfield market and has created a bevy of community buzz on social media.

“I’m not at liberty to discuss and/or disclose tenants at this time,” said Thessing, whose real estate company closed on more than $25 million in sales within its first 15 months after opening in 2002, and since has closed on more than $400 million.

Trader Joe’s officials could not be reached for comment by press time. The privately held specialty grocery retailer operates five stores in the St. Louis and Kansas City markets. No stores are currently planned for Springfield, according to TraderJoes.com.

Thessing, who declined to disclose the property sale closing date, said Morris Group officials had indicated the hotel was reaching the end of its life expectancy and has faced increasing competition from other conference venues. Brett Roubal of Baird, Lightner, Millsap & Harpool PC, the attorney handling the transaction for Morris Group Properties, could not be reached by press time.

Events shuffle
Ozarks Model Railroad Association officials received word of the hotel closure last week when Howard Johnson managers said they could not host the group’s annual fall show, booked for Sept. 28. Greg Sullivan, the organization’s fall chairman, said the event has moved to the downtown Springfield Expo Center.

“They’ve been coordinating with the Expo Center with ours and several other events,” Sullivan said of Howard Johnson sales managers.

Natalie Alford, banquet coordinator for Bass Pro Shops’ White River Conference Center, said the venue has received 10 phone calls regarding events cancelled by the HoJo closure plans, but she was unable to book them because their dates were already taken.

Alford said the White River center likely would be able to pick up 20 additional events per year with one less conference center competitor, resulting in an estimated $80,000 to $100,000 in additional revenue. She said the center might also hire former HoJo kitchen staff and servers.

Springfield Contractors Association Executive Director Sheryl Letterman said the Nov. 7 Salute to Construction banquet – which is hosted by more than 20 groups including the SCA – has relocated to the Ramada Plaza Hotel & Oasis Convention Center from its 26-year home at the South Glenstone property.

Letterman said SCA has held events at the property since 1981 and will hold its last luncheon at the hotel Sept. 3.

“It’s been an incredible relationship, and I’m really sorry that it’s ending,” she said of the property that has waved the flags of Howard Johnson, Clarion, Radisson and Sheraton since it was built in 1974.

Morris influence
The Morris Group rebranded the hotel as Howard Johnson after assuming control of it in October 2011. Springfield businessman Morris’ company had owned the former Clarion property for seven years before selling to a California investor group in a December 2008 owner-financed $6 million deal.

The investor group, doing business as Glenstone Enterprises LLC, was unable to make its payments and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2010, leaving the Morris Group to reassume control of the property, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

According to Greene County assessor records, the HoJo property’s taxable appraised value was $2.9 million, as of Jan. 1.