The new owners of the historic Vandivort Center downtown have plans to convert the 305 E. Walnut St. building into a 45-room boutique hotel.
Brothers Billy and John McQueary - members of the McQueary Drug Co. family and former employees of the company - closed Sept. 12 on the purchase of the building for an undisclosed amount from center city property owner Scott Tillman, said John McQueary. When Tillman purchased the property
early this year, it had been listed for $1.5 million. The building's 2012 appraised value is $2 million, according to the Greene County assessor.
“It’s something we’ve been working on for a while," McQueary said. "Neither of us are real estate developers by trade, but we’re local guys, and we’re pretty passionate about downtown. We started contacting some experts and had a feasibility study done. Everything’s come back positive so far, so we’ve just been kind of plugging away from there."
The brothers - who purchased the building under the banner of MBH LLC - have signed on Ozark general contractor Larry Snyder and Co. and Springfield architecture firm Bates & Associates for the planned hotel, which Billy McQueary said hasn't yet been named. The hotel would comprise a renovated top-floor ballroom, a social lobby, a street-level bar, meeting facilities and a fitness center. The building has two parking lots - one across Walnut Street with about 20 spots and another behind the building with 40 spots. Design of the hotel has begun and construction is expected to begin in early 2013.
“We really see that there’s a need for it downtown. It’s going to be high-end, with a fairly modern design, but really trying to embrace the historic nature of the building at the same time,” John McQueary said.
The McQuearys are working with Vandivort Center tenants, including the Springfield Contemporary Theatre, to help them relocate to other downtown locations. The theater currently resides on the fourth floor of the Vandivort Center.
“We’re working with them right now to find a space to give them a little more street presence but still keep them downtown,” Billy McQueary said of the Springfield Contemporary Theatre.
The McQueary brothers' purchase of the Vandivort Center marks the fourth ownership change in more than six years.
The 44,000-square-foot building was purchased in early 2012 by Tillman from First Home Savings Bank. The Mountain Grove-based bank foreclosed on the property in July 2010 about seven months before former owner Aaron Buerge, president of First National Bank, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Buerge purchased the property from Jim Shirato in July 2006.
The Vandivort was constructed in 1906 as a Masonic Temple and remodeled in 1987, according to
Springfield Business Journal archives.
