From the Ground Up: Retail strip center

Owner/developer: Red National LLC (Little Rock, Ark.)

General contractor: MDH Builders Inc. (Little Rock)

Architect: James B. O’Donnell, Architect

Engineers: Edelman Engineering, structural; HBH Engineers LLC, mechanical, electrical and plumbing

Size: 10,150 square feet

Estimated cost: $681,912, according to Springfield building permit

Lender: Arvest Bank

Estimated completion date: mid-December

Project description: This strip center is rising where James River Grill formerly stood. Listing agent Mike Mellinger of Mellinger Commercial said about half of the center has been leased to national retailers, though he wouldn’t disclose tenant names. Verizon Wireless has filed Springfield building permits for infill work, however. Lease rates are $25 to $35 a square foot, triple net, according to Mellinger, who said the high lease rates reflect high traffic counts – about 68,000 cars pass the site at Battlefield Road and National Avenue daily, placing it among the city’s four busiest intersections. Mike Pierce of Little Rock is the principal investor in the development. Pierce is also a Papa John’s Springfield franchisee and owns the South Glenstone Avenue land where Chick-fil-A and Red Robin Gourmet Burgers operate. He has several other developments under way locally, including a retail project on 44 acres at U.S. Highway 65 and Chestnut Expressway.

Reporter Cory Smith brings you new projects each week. He may be reached by e-mail at csmith@sbj.net, by fax at (417) 799-0603 or by phone at (417) 616-5854.