YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
Last edited 3:04 p.m., Nov. 1, 2023 [Editor's note: The location has been updated.]
A large-scale auction is set to pave the way for new developments in far east Springfield.
Ranch & Farm Auctions, a division of Illinois-based Whitetail Properties Real Estate, conducted the nearly $5.6 million sale of over 174 acres near East Sunshine Street and Farm Road 199, according to a news release issued this morning. The seller was businessperson Jeff Gower, board chair of Wil Fischer Cos., and the auction was held Sept. 8.
Brian Utecht, a local land specialist with Whitetail Properties who handled the auction, said in the release that successful bidders "are planning a tree nursery, senior living facilities and other residential development." Reached by email this morning, Utecht declined to disclose the buyers' names.
“The decisive lack of inventory in the immediate area coupled with very strong interest in this transitional property among investors, homebuilders and developers were the keys to the success of this auction,” said Joe Gizdic, director of auction services for Farm & Ranch Auctions, in the release.
The auction included 10 individual tracts that generated an average of $32,000 per acre and a top sales price of $50,000 per acre, officials say. The undeveloped land is 2 miles east of Sam’s Club.
“There are no land offerings of this size close to Springfield, so the opportunity of owning a piece of it was a rare offering,” Utecht said in the release. “The growing communities of Turners, Strafford and Rogersville use this road for their commutes to Springfield, so this is only the beginning of the eastern Springfield growth."
The auction was hosted at Gower's Soaring Eagle Sale Barn, according to the release. A longtime executive at Anheuser-Busch distributor Wil Fischer, Gower additionally has cared for Budweiser Clydesdales locally.
Moseley’s Discount Office Products was purchased; Side Chick opened in Branson; and the Springfield franchise store of NoBaked Cookie Dough changed ownership.
There now is a sign posted along Sunshine, on the northwest corner of the 199 intersection, stating that it soon is to become the site of an operation of Carson's Nurseries.