From the Ground Up: Missouri Tile

Owner/developer: Scott Shortt Properties LLC
General contractor: BP Builders LLC
Architect: Derington Architects LLC
Engineers: Wilson Survey Co. Inc., civil; Tom Edelman Engineering, structural; Latifi Engineering, mechanical, electrical
and plumbing
Size: 26,000 square feet
Estimated cost: $1 million
Lender: None
Estimated completion: March 2017
Project description: After operating at 3045 S. Scenic Ave., Ste. 100, for 10 years, Missouri Tile is expanding its showroom and warehouse by 6,000 square feet. Father-and-son owners Chester and Scott Shortt are self-funding the construction and plan to move from their current leased building. The company started in 1994 as Mussino Tile and the Shortts purchased it in 2001. They renamed it 18 months ago. “We bought a company that was struggling and put a lot of work into it,” he said. “When we started, we were in 3,500 square feet. We actually, at one point in time, were storing the tile in the barn at home and transporting it back and forth from the house to the shop. Whenever we moved into this facility, we moved 185 pallets from the farm to Springfield.” With the move to the 20,000-square-foot warehouse, Shortt said the company would hire for several sales and warehouse positions.