Group buys McDaniel, Woodruff buildings, parking garage

After 1 1/2 years of wrangling, downtown's McDaniel and Woodruff buildings have new owners.

"This deal's been on and off probably three different times," said Brett Loethen, a local Realtor and majority owner in Downtown Springfield Property LLC. His brother, Bart Loethen, a Chicago attorney, is the other majority owner.

In addition to the two structures, Downtown Springfield Property also bought the Jordan Valley parking garage, which provides parking for the two buildings, as well as pavement to the south of the McDaniel building. All totaled, there are more than 500 spaces.

They are DSP's first three properties.

The price of downtown

Davis Properties, headed by Warren Davis, previously owned all the real estate in the deal. Ron Shepherd, property manager, said the company was first contacted about the sale almost two years ago.

"The sale was prompted by the fact that we got the kind of money out of them that we were after," he said.

Davis Properties has owned the two buildings since 1994 and continues to own about 700,000 square feet of office and retail space available in a number of sites, he said.

Brett Loethen declined to give the purchase price, but said the cost exceeded the $2.1 million deed of trust issued to DSP on July 24 by Empire Bank.

In addition to his and his brother's managing roles, Brett Loethen said there are other investors on board who will provide input into DSP's future activities.

According to the Greene County Assessor's office, the 2001 appraised value of the McDaniel Building was $43,000 and the land was valued at $74,200. The Woodruff Building was valued at $442,800 and $32,700 for the land.

The appraised value of the four-story Jordan Valley parking garage was $123,600 and the land was valued at $60,000.

Landmarks

The McDaniel Building, at 316 Park Central East, was built in 1914 and has roughly 45,000 square feet of leasable space. The Woodruff Building, at 331 Park Central East, was built in 1909 and has about 75,000 square feet, Loethen said. The two buildings are about 60 percent occupied with more than 50,000 square feet of space available. The leasing price for each building will "roughly be $9 to $10 a square foot," he said.

The Jordan Valley parking garage, on the southwest corner of Benton Avenue and Trafficway Street at 235 N. Benton Ave., has 27,264 square feet of land and the four-story structure totals 115,104 square feet.

Under new management

Part of DSP's strategy to attract clients to its buildings, as well as maintaining those it already has, will be its ability to accommodate its tenants' wishes. "I think we'll be flexible in a build-out," Bart Loethen said. He added that DSP's leasing rates, which are already competitive with downtown rates, and the accessibility of on-site management will be drawing cards, as well.

Loethen said he didn't foresee any name changes to the two downtown buildings, but added a possible exception. "If somebody wants to come and lease up half of the building, we might reconsider. But there are no plans to do so ... We like the historical meaning that comes with them."

DSP is re-roofing both buildings, and Brett Loethen said HVAC work will likely start in October. As property manager, he is assessing the buildings on a number of fronts.

"We're going to go through every office everywhere and just start taking notes and taking inventory and seeing what we have and seeing what we need to do," Loethen said.

Loethen anticipated lease revenues from the two buildings would be more than they are now, but didn't offer an amount. "I'm not getting into it to keep it status quo."

Brett Loethen has been a Springfield Realtor for seven years and works with Re/Max House of Brokers. Bart Loethen has practiced business law for nine years and is a managing partner with Synergy Law Group in Chicago, Ill. Both are natives of St. Louis.