The former Doe’s Eat Place building on East Trafficway was purchased June 30 by husband and wife small-business owners, who plan to move their office operations into the vacant space by Oct. 1.
Rod Shetler and Jana Nations Shetler bought the 1232 E. Trafficway St. property for an undisclosed price from Bill Davis’ KA Investments LLC. Rod Shetler operates Corporate & Legal Reproductions LLC, and Jana runs Nations Insurance Agency. Both plan to move their offices into the 6,500-square-foot building when roughly $75,000 in renovations wrap up by general contractor George Zarras of Affordable Home Improvements Inc.
“It has a good open, urban feel,” Jana Shetler said, noting the corrugated metal walls are moveable and the configuration might create some lease space.
One piece not moving is the Doe’s bar, which Rod Shetler expects to be a conversation starter.
“It won’t be operational. It’s just a good-old conversation piece,” he said. “How many offices in town have something like that in them?”
The Shetlers met last week with architect Tim Rosenbury of Butler, Rosenbury & Partners Inc. to develop the new design. Rosenbury also drew up the restaurant space when Bill Davis brought the Doe’s Eat Place concept to Springfield in mid-2006.
A small, Mississippi-based steak restaurant franchise, Doe’s closed in Springfield two years to the day of the Shetlers’ purchase. The eatery had a six-year run that might have been complicated by parking issues. The property has seven parking spaces.
“That was one of the things Doe’s had problems with,” Rod Shetler said of the chain that still operate eight restaurants in the Midsouth. “For what we do, that should be fine.”
Shetler said foot traffic for their businesses is minimal, mainly consisting of insurance appointments with Jana, a New York Life agent. In his work, Shetler typically picks up and delivers the jobs, often copied, printed or scanned documents for law firms.
“If they are going to a trial and they have to share all the documents in a case to the opposing council, we get the phone call,” Shetler says, noting his company handles large-format printing, high-volume scanning and record digitizing for clients including Bass Pro Shops, and various land title companies and accounting firms. “We do trial exhibits, archival work on closed files – basically, we take 20 to 30 bankers boxes and scan them in to a disc to keep the boxes from piling up in law firm offices.”
The Shetlers are moving from 2042 S. Brentwood Blvd. Davis had owned the building since 2001.
This installment of Springfield Business Journal’s Architects & Engineers Project Report showcases 26 endeavors by area design and engineering professionals.
