Comp companies cover spectrum of development

Real estate has always been a boom or bust business.

So when the real estate market in Texas went south in the late 1980s, W. Robert Comp Jr. decided to head north. In time, he moved his company, First Comp Corp., to Springfield.

During the next several years, Comp began to diversify, which gave rise to several more companies. Today, First Comp Corp. serves as a holding company for Comp Real Estate Co. LLC., Comp Appraisals PC, Wes'WeGo Enter-prises LLC and Naunpareil Inc., which employs seven full-time workers, including Comp's wife Joella, daughter Cathryn and son Josh.

The companies together provide a wide variety of real estate development services. Comp Real Estate acts as a buyer/broker, Comp Appraisals PC evaluates and appraises properties, Wes'- WeGo Enterprises does land development, and Naunpareil Inc. coordinates the services provided by the other businesses.

"Naunpareil provides any level of development services necessary to plan, evaluate, prequalify and take a project through from concept to completion," said Comp, who has more than 30 years of experience in civil engineering, surveying, land planning and real estate appraisals. "We do real estate development from the ground up. We know what questions to ask, who to ask and when we should ask. More importantly, we know what to do with the answers."

Architect Richard Gamez, who is a principal in Naunpareil, works with Comp on a variety of projects. Gamez also owns RDG Architecture, a general construction architectural firm located in Springfield.

"Many of the projects Naunpareil works on are located outside of this area," said Gamez. "We've done a lot of projects in Kansas City and up and down the East Coast."

Naunpareil also has worked with several local property owners and real estate brokers on projects such as Westwood Hills, Coalesce Terrace, Havenshire, Primrose Centre and Emerald Heights in Springfield.

In addition, the company was tapped to work on Swan Creek Estates in Forsyth, Chaconia Gardens in Mountain Grove and Emerald Heights and the Arboretum in Branson.

Much of the Naunpareil's work centers around determining the feasibility of a project. Once a project's feasibility has been established, Comp and Gamez try to work within the developer's budget constraints.

The project is then divided into stages, which allows investors to determine the level of development.

"Too many people have soda straw vision when it comes to land development," said Comp. "The only thing they consider is what they see through the straw. I try to consider everything, and I'm a firm believer in letting the land dictate the type of development that should be put on it."

For example, Comp and Gamez recently developed a piece of real estate that previously had been considered unusable because of the presence of a large sinkhole.

After appraising the land, the two converted the sinkhole into a small lake, which provided a scenic view for residents of a nearby nursing home.

According to Comp, running a variety of diverse but interrelated businesses has its strengths.

Oftentimes, he said, a simple project such as a real estate appraisal snowballs into a multifaceted project that provides work for his other businesses.

Diversity also has its drawbacks, however. Both Comp and Gamez spend a great deal of time on the road, which can be stressful.

In addition, the two must be careful to avoid the appearance of impropriety should a conflict in interests arise. For example, Comp Appraisals can't ap-praise or evaluate any land that's owned by any of the companies that fall under the First Comp Corp. umbrella.

Despite the challenges, Comp and Gamez say they're ready to take their business to the next level, and they're working hard these days to promote Naunpareil's services to local real estate developers.

"What we'd really like to do now is become more successful in our own backyard," said Gamez. "We have a lot to offer local developers. We can take a real estate development project and run it from start to finish, and we back up what we do."