Commercial construction booms in Christian County

by Diane Rarick

SBJ Contributing Writer

Christian County commercial construction is on the rise, with commercial building permits increasing and land parcels being gobbled up. Continued residential building in Nixa and Ozark have fueled the fires of commercial construction.

Through mid-October, Nixa issued 36 new commercial building permits and 76 permits for signs, remodeling, infill and additions. Ozark has issued 14 new commercial building permits in 1999.

Here are details on a smattering of projects in the works or on the drawing board.

Nixa High School. The emerging Nixa High School, Christian County's biggest construction project, will be even larger than originally planned. A third floor is being constructed now and will be finished later, providing an additional 60,000 square feet and 20 to 22 more classrooms.

This will allow the school to accomodate up to 1,800 students upon completion, according to Dr. Terry Reid, superintendent of Nixa Schools. The building comprises 265,000 square feet and will cost about $16.5 million to $17 million.

With a school population that's growing by 7 percent each year, the extra rooms will soon be needed. "There have been some added costs, such as flooring, upgraded theater seating and the additional third floor," Reid said.

The classrooms will be connected with fiber-optic cable, and will feature phones, Internet service and video, audio and security systems. The school is being built on 43 acres on M Highway, one mile south of Highway 14, and will be ready for students in August 2000.

The project also includes a football field, tennis courts, soccer fields, and practice fields for band, football and softball. The stadium will initially seat 2,500 but can be expanded up to a capacity of 5,000 in the future, according to Reid. The contractor is DeWitt & Associates of Springfield, while the architect is Sapp Design Associates Architects PC.

Retail/commercial construction. The Crossroads Shopping Center is a 20,400-square-foot L-shaped retail center being built at the northwest corner of highways 160 and 14. Richard Pendleton is the developer and owner, and Ken Schwab, of Wilhoit Properties, is the leasing agent.

Retail spaces from 1,500 to 10,000 square feet are available, according to Schwab. He said that a restaurant will be one of the tenants. The center was designed by Slone Architects Inc. and is being constructed by BuildSpec Inc. The completion date is estimated at mid-December, Schwab said.

A Dollar General Store comprising 10,250 square feet is nearing completion and will open later this month at the corner of Highway 160 and Tracker Road. Morelock-Ross is the builder. The existing Dollar General store at 421 W. South St. will close when the new store is complete, Store Manager Doug Sparks said.

Construction preparations are being made at the new Nixa Commerce Park, a planned commercial development on 13 acres at the intersection of Aldersgate and Main streets, east of the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Nixa. The owner of the property is Nixa Partners LLC. The broker is Keith Roberts of Empire Realtors.

Two buildings are planned, according to Roberts, one at 6,500 to 7,000 square feet and the other at 6,000 to 8,000 square feet. Construction will begin in the next four months, with the buildings ready for occupancy next summer and fall. Thirteen lots are included in the development, along with a new street called Sherman Way, Roberts said.

A Walgreens Drug Store will open in Nixa in the summer of 2000 at the corner of highways 160 and 14 in front of the Fountain Plaza Shopping Center.

Scott Harrell, of Scott F. Harrell & Associates, represents the developer, Blackstone Group of St. Louis. He said that the 15,120-square-foot store will be the new prototype store, similar to the one completed in 1999 at Kearney and Kansas Expressway in Springfield.

The location was deemed the premiere location for serving Nixa and outlying trade areas, he said. This will be the area's sixth Walgreens store.

Industrial park construction. Knight Heating and Air Conditioning is building a 24,000-square-foot building at 468 Tracker Road, just east of Tracker Road and Highway 160, and will occupy 8,000 square feet of the structure. The balance, eight units of 1,950 square feet each, will be leased to area service, office and retail tenants, according to Gregg Stancer, of CJR Commercial Group, the leasing agent.

Owner Dan Knight said that the building will be completed around Dec. 15. Knight Heating and Air Conditioning is now located in 5,000 square feet at 208 Village Center Road in Nixa. Tenants will complete the spaces to their own specifications. Construction Processing Company is the contractor.

CPC is also building a 10,000-square-foot warehouse addition for Showcase Builders Supply, formerly known as Star Fireplace Company, in the Nixa Industrial Park. The company will offer Heat-N-Glo and F.M.I. fireplaces with sales, service and installation available.

The company will add vinyl and wood new and replacement windows, and a full line of Merillat kitchen and bath cabinetry for new construction and remodeling, according to Showcase CEO David Reynolds. The addition will be complete by Dec. 1, and the existing building at 1211 Eagle Crest St. will be remodeled for office and showroom space, Reynolds said.

A 15,000-square-foot office/warehouse is being built at 1101-1119 Falconcrest in the Nixa Industrial Park for Duprau Industries. The general contractor, DuWayne Eoff of Eoff and Associates, said that it is the third building his company has built for Duprau Industries in the park. The estimated completion date is Feb. 1, 2000.

Ron Duprau Jr. said that his company will handle the leasing of the 10, 1,500-square-foot spaces, which are suitable for light manufacturing, small warehousing and small-tradespeople. The steel building is north of the corner of Kathryn Street and Falconcrest in Nixa.

Ozark area projects. The largest construction project in Ozark is the James River Assembly, which is nearing completion at Highway 65 and J. The architect is Pellham Phillips Hagerman of Springfield, and the general contractor is Nabholz Construction of Ozark.

The building is 180,000 square feet, with a sanctuary that seats 3,090 people and a parking lot for 2,179 cars. The land cost was $2 million and the building cost $12.8 million, according to Greg Marquart, administrative pastor. It will be complete around March 1.

Al Gonzales, building code inspector for Ozark, said there are several retail construction projects in the works. These include an approximately 3,000-square-foot Lightning Lube to be built next to the MFA store on Highway 14 and a Cruisin' U.S.A. Frozen Custard shop to be built on CC near Lambert's Cafe.

Gonzales also reported that a 71-acre commercial/retail plat may be discussed at the November Ozark Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, and a shopping mall may also be on the horizon.

Dennis Hanks Chevrolet Olds has a permit to build a new dealership on five acres on the east outer road off Highway 65, north of Days Inn. The building will comprise about 31,500 square feet plus a 4,000-square-foot covered "outdoor showroom," according to Dennis Hanks. The architect is Slone Architects of Springfield and the contractor is Bell Building Systems Inc.

The dealership will move from its existing location at 802 W. Jackson in Ozark sometime in June, Hanks said. The larger building will allow for the expansion of Hanks' service department and body shop, and provide more office space.

A Dairy Queen restaurant will be built on North 17th Street in the Ozark Business Center, which is developed by Neil Stenger. The architect is Eddie Tims with Keystone Architects and the franchisee is M. Edmund Leonard of Clever.

Construction will begin in November with an estimated completion in June 2000, according to Tims. The restaurant is 2,425 square feet and has an estimated value of $400,000, Tims said.

Fried Green Tomatoes has started construction and is on schedule to finish in February, according to Gonzales. The 14,160-square-foot restaurant will be located off CC behind Rapid Roberts, according to Gonzales. Smith Construction Co. of Joplin is the contractor.

In November, Southwest Community Bank begins construction of a branch at 1444 Highway J. The branch began operating out of a mobile building on the site Oct. 12. It will continue to do so until the approximately 3,600-square-foot building is completed in spring 2000, according to Branch Manager Pam Linn.

Southwest Community Bank is a locally owned bank located at 393 N. 21st St. in Ozark. The architect is Keystone Architects, Springfield, and the contractor is Larry Flatness Construction, according to Linn.

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