Glenstone Gardens demolition paves way for big-box retailer

The owner of the Glenstone Gardens Shopping Center and five adjacent properties at the northeast corner of Glenstone Avenue and Bennett Street said he has reached an agreement to sell 4.8 acres together to an unnamed buyer who plans to build a big-box retail store.

Kenneth Barth, president of Branson-based Industrial Park Plaza Inc., which owns the properties, declined to disclose financial terms of the deal or name the buyer, but he said the site, which consists of eight parcels at six separate addresses, was slated for retail development. The sale is expected to close April 27.

Barth said he bought the properties four years ago with plans to sell them for a profit.

“I just bought (them) to clean up and sell,” he said, adding that it had been a difficult time to turn over the project.

Real estate broker Hannah Textor said she had been working to sell the properties for about a year and a half. She said Galen Pellham, an agent with Murney Associates Realtors, previously worked for two years to sell the properties.

The properties were listed for $1.85 million through Hannah Textor Brokerage LC. According to Greene County assessor’s records, the six properties, primarily offices, held a total 2010 appraised value of more than $2.12 million.

Barth said he has lost money on the vacant properties in interest payments, but he declined to disclose how much he lost.

Five of the six properties have been vacant for at least a year and a half, including the L-Shaped Glenstone Gardens at 1320 S. Glenstone Ave., according to Textor. Those properties, which have since been demolished, were at 1320, 1328, 1334, 1342 and 1350 S. Glenstone Ave., and 1851 E. Bennett St. Textor said the city’s Building Development Services Department tore down the vacant properties.

Chris Straw, director of building services, said the demolished structures were torn down under the city’s ordinance for dangerous, blighted or nuisance structures.

“They were classified as open and vacant – in other words, there were windows gone, doors gone, there were people living in them, there was all kinds of activity going on and just totally unsafe conditions,” Straw said.  

He said the city had notified the owner several times to correct the conditions during the last six months before the properties were bid for demolition. He said Barth did take down the former Foxy’s Lounge, 1851 E. Bennett St., at his own expense. Straw said demolition costs approach $40,000, and a lien would be placed on the property, most likely by the April 27 closing.

Missouri Title Loans is the last remaining tenant on the properties.

Textor said she did not expect the buyers to pull out before the April closing.

“The buyers are very motivated,” she said.[[In-content Ad]]