Medical Mile land pegged for development

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Springfield's Medical Mile is making its last call for new development. |ret||ret||tab|

New owners of nearly 30 acres of vacant land on the southwest corner of National Avenue and Battlefield Road have their properties pegged for development. Plans vary from medical, financial and professional services to retail and restaurant uses.|ret||ret||tab|

It's the last chance for Medical Mile, said Signature Bank's Rob Fulp, whose bank is lending more than $20 million for different projects on the land _ some not yet announced.|ret||ret||tab|

This area is the last privately owned, undeveloped parcel on National between Battlefield Road and Republic Road, according to Fulp.|ret||ret||tab|

Headlining the new development is Battlefield Marketplace, a $7.5 million, 46,400-square-foot retail center.|ret||ret||tab|

Springfield developer Randy Magers is building Battlefield Marketplace on 6.5 acres on Battlefield Road, one block west of National Avenue. Site work by general contractor Morelock-Ross Properties is ongoing.|ret||ret||tab|

The retail center is part of a larger, 16-acre parcel Magers purchased in July. Magers has divided up the remaining 9.5 acres into seven pad sites for sale. RB Murray Company, broker of the land purchase this summer, is leasing agent and has four parcels under contract. Two are for medical services, one is for financial services and another is for a restaurant, according to Dave Murray of RB Murray.|ret||ret||tab|

The Battlefield Marketplace development team _ Magers, RB Murray, Morelock-Ross and Slone Architects _ finalized plans just last week. Interest is high early on, Magers said.|ret||ret||tab|

We get calls daily, Magers said. That just typifies the activity that we're getting on this piece of property.|ret||ret||tab|

The high-profile property was delayed in development because the previous owners, Springfield Grocer and College of the Ozarks, insisted on marketing on a land-lease basis. Rob Murray of RB Murray said the property was on the market for at least seven years. RB Murray listed the property for $5.99 million. The purchase price was not disclosed.|ret||ret||tab|

Now the groundwork for construction is being set.|ret||ret||tab|

You won't recognize the landscape a year from today, added Dave Murray.|ret||ret||tab|

Clary's No. 2|ret||ret||tab|

Rooflines of Battle-field Marketplace will stand as high as 40 feet tall. Underneath the center's marquee lies the largest unit at 6,900 square feet, according to the site plans. Two large end-cap spaces bookend the center; one is already leased.|ret||ret||tab|

Longtime Springfield restaurateur James Clary, owner of Clary's Restaurant and co-owner of Gallery Bistro, has signed on for a new dining venture to anchor Battlefield Marketplace's east end-cap. Clary's new restaurant, simply named Fish, will feature a seafood menu in a casual-contemporary atmosphere suitable for families and professionals, he said.|ret||ret||tab|

Clary said longtime employees Wes Elms and Crenna Butterbaugh will co-own Fish. Clary expects to spend about $800,000 in creating the restaurant; Buxton-Kubik Interior was named interior designer.|ret||ret||tab|

Negotiations are ongoing with another restaurant tenant for the center's west end cap, according to Rob Murray. In between the 5,750-square-foot end caps, 16 spaces, at 1,750 square feet each, are available for lease at $14.50 a square foot.|ret||ret||tab|

Magers expects those tenants to be retail in nature, and both national and local in scope. Battlefield Marketplace's target opening date is June 1. The retail pad sites are for sale at $8.50 per square foot, Murray said. |ret||ret||tab|

Metropolitan National Bank is providing the financing for Battlefield Marketplace. |ret||ret||tab|

Medical Mile extension |ret||ret||tab|

Due to its proximity to the Medical Mile, this undeveloped land has caught the eye of several expanding physician groups.|ret||ret||tab|

One Signature Bank client, OMS Group, will break ground for its $2.2 million, 20,000-square-foot facility Oct. 15. OMS is a six-member dental group operating in the Fremont Medical Building and in an auxiliary location on South Primrose. The new location will be in the 1100 block of East Battlefield Road.|ret||ret||tab|

Another client, Ozarks Area Orthopaedics Associates, plans to break away from CoxHealth and construct its own 45,000-square-foot office. That group of physicians has joined with a few former Ferrell-Duncan orthopedic doctors to acquire six acres immediately south of UMB Bank on the corner of Battlefield and National. All that sits on the land now is Bill Beall Company's sold sign and Signature Bank's financing by sign.|ret||ret||tab|

There is a group of orthopedics that are going to form a group, and we bought some land, said Dr. Paul Olive, speaking on behalf of the group. We are in the planning stages of building a comprehensive orthopedic clinic out there.|ret||ret||tab|

Olive anticipates 10 to 12 doctors involved, three or four of them being former Ferrell-Duncan doctors and most of the staff of Ozarks Area Orthopaedics Associates. Olive would not disclose the purchase price of the land, or the names of other doctors involved.|ret||ret||tab|

Ozarks Area Orthopaedics Associates' contract with CoxHealth expires Jan. 1. Olive said the association will continue to lease space from CoxHealth until the new building is completed, which he expects to be February 2005. The groundbreaking will be held late this year or early next year, Olive said.|ret||ret||tab|

There is no general contractor or construction cost estimate at this time, Olive said. Creative Ink is architect.|ret||ret||tab|

Magers likes the diversity of tenants interested in the area.|ret||ret||tab|

It's a high-profile piece of property, he said, based on a traffic count of more than 30,000 cars a day. |ret||ret||tab|

People from the medical community, as well as other professional users, have been contacting us. This is just a natural extension of the Medical Mile.|ret||ret||tab|

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