MSU board to mull property purchases for IDEA Commons

The Missouri State University Board of Governors tomorrow is scheduled to vote on a portion of its IDEA Commons growth plans.

The board’s Aug. 3 agenda includes a memorandum of understanding with the city and a purchase contract for property near Brick City for the purposes of parking for MSU’s Brick City students and storage. The property is located to the north and south of the railroad tracks along Mill Street just west of Campbell Avenue.

The largest piece south of Mill Street is a 1.4-acre lot at 353 N. Campbell Ave., which is mostly vacant but has two small, boarded up buildings.  

MSU is seeking to enter an agreement with the city through which the university would first buy the land for $275,000 from owner Mauldin Family LP. The city then would take over the property from MSU in order to open up the nearby floodplain created by Jordan Valley Creek and allow the university to use it for parking purposes. Through the agreement, MSU either would pay nothing to lease the property or the city would reimburse it for improvements over a 10-year period, including demolition of the buildings.

North of Mill Street, MSU wants to purchase storage space at 411-417 W. Mill St. for $540,000 from Mauldin Family LP. If the board approves the purchase, MSU would end other leased storage space downtown in favor of the 28,741 square feet under contract. That would mean payback in roughly seven and a half years, as opposed to continued lease payments, according to the agenda.

The 417 W. Mill St. property had housed Midwest Materials Co., which relocated in July to 1730 E. Atlantic St., said co-owner Jacob Hymer.

“We’ve been looking at moving into a more efficient building for us for a while,” he said.

Last month, MSU announced plans to improve IDEA Commons, where officials have invested $130 million over a 10-year period for innovation, design, entrepreneurship and the arts. Proposals include additional research labs and office space for Jordan Valley Innovation Center and real estate options for business startups at The eFactory.

MSU is also working with The Vecino Group to develop land near JVIC. Vecino Group is under contract to purchase property that currently houses Touche nightclub at 414 Boonville Ave. MSU spokeswoman Andrea Mostyn said there will be an update on those plans at tomorrow’s meeting, but she was not sure what the discussions would entail.