Commercial real estate market 'never better,? say agents

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Local commercial real estate and leasing agents say that the market for commercial real estate in Springfield has never been better. They attribute this to people's investing in real estate because of uncertainty about the stock market, because real estate is a sound investment, because interest rates are low and be-cause Springfield is surviving the national economic downturn. And they say the outlook for next year looks just as good.|ret||ret||tab|

Tom Rankin, owner of the Rankin Company, 3022 S. National, said, "We're seeing people buy a building for their own business or buying land to build a business on." While Rankin has seen the leasing market slow down, he said more people are purchasing land and buildings outright. "They realize they can afford to buy."|ret||ret||tab|

Like many, Rankin believes that Springfield's diversified economy ena-bles weathering a lot of the economic storms affecting larger cities. "The outlook for the year 2002 is very good," he said. "People that were sitting on the fence because of what happened on Sept. 11 are choosing to expand or relocate during the next year."|ret||ret||tab|

Some of Rankin's currently available commercial properties are The Republic Plaza, 2121 W. Republic Road, where tenants include Mailbox Express and Su-percuts, due to open soon.|ret||ret||tab|

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Still room|ret||ret||tab|

Rankin said there's still room for several new businesses at Plainview Cor-ners, located at Plainview and South Campbell, in addition to current tenants State Farm Insurance, Subway and Su-percuts.|ret||ret||tab|

Rankin also just took over the leasing of Kelly Plaza on South National, which has 150,000 square feet of retail and office space.|ret||ret||tab|

Ken Schwab, commercial real estate agent for Wilhoit Properties Inc., 1730 E. Republic Road, said he has found Springfield to be an extremely vibrant market. "The current interest rates are making ownership very attractive," he said. "It's been as strong in the last 24 months as I've seen it in the 20 years I've been doing this in Springfield. There's no indication that there's going to be any pullback."|ret||ret||tab|

Schwab is overseeing the leasing of World View, a brand new 18,000-square-foot commercial property at 4124 South McCann Court, where 3,000 square feet are still available.|ret||ret||tab|

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Tuscany Court|ret||ret||tab|

Schwab also oversees the leasing of Tuscany Court, 1343 E. Kingsley, a 30,000-square-foot property under construction. Tenere, a medical liability insurance provider, is leasing 13,000 square feet and will move in next March. Healthsouth Rehabilitation Center has already moved into a 4,000-square-foot space. Dr. Bert Park occupies 1,600 square feet of the complex. The remainder of the space is available for lease.|ret||ret||tab|

Twin Oaks Office Park is a new 72,000-square-foot office development at 909 E. Republic Road, 40,000 square feet of which has been developed. Mis-souri Employers Mutual Insurance is the newest tenant in the office park.|ret||ret||tab|

The Town and Country Shopping Center, 2700 N. Kansas Expressway, is getting a new, updated facade, according to Schwab. The new owner of the shopping center will begin redeveloping the space early next spring. In addition to the facelift, 12,000 square feet will be added onto the development.|ret||ret||tab|

Schwab said that most of the 12,200-square-foot addition to the Hobby Lobby building at Kansas Expressway and Kearney has been leased. Six thousand square feet of the space is being leased to Playmoore, a rent-to-own business al-ready open and 1,700 is being leased to Wing Stop, a restaurant scheduled to open within the next two months. |ret||ret||tab|

Eastgate Office Condominiums, 2111-2141 S. Eastgate, are under construction, Schwab said, with 19,200 square feet of space open between the two buildings. A new Edward Jones office occupies 1,200 square feet and Schwab is in negotiations for 2,200 square feet more of the available space.|ret||ret||tab|

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Growing sales|ret||ret||tab|

Mark Kerivan, sales associate for Murney Associates, 1625 E. Primrose, said the sales of commercial real estate "have really grown" in Springfield recently. "But we're running out of commercial land," Kerivan added. "We're seeing a lot of people with half a million dollars to invest. But the land isn't there. If they want land, now most of them need at least a million dollars. Everyone is holding on to their commercial real es-tate. Real estate is a sound investment in Greene County because of the steady appreciation and the high demand."|ret||ret||tab|

Kerivan attributes the growth in local commercial real estate sales to the shaky stock market.|ret||ret||tab|

"I'm seeing people pull their money out of their high-tech stock and put it into commercial land in Greene County," he said. "The investors are diverse and mostly come from the Springfield area, California or Texas. The majority of them are attached to the Springfield community in some way." |ret||ret||tab|

Kerivan has just leased a 5,500-square-foot building at 3540 S. Culpepper, to be used as a daycare for St. John's. The interior of the building is being modified for the needs of the daycare employees and customers. The building was formerly leased to La Petite Academy.[[In-content Ad]]