New business park to be developed on East Kearney

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Construction for the first phase of the North Creek Business Park is scheduled to begin this week, according to Tom Rankin, who, along with the Charlie O'Reilly family, owns the property on the 2600 block of East Kearney.|ret||ret||tab|

Rankin said when he and the O'Reillys purchased the property, which is zoned for general manufacturing, about 2 1/2 years ago, it was not hooked up to the city's sewer system. Now that it is, development can move forward. |ret||ret||tab|

Rankin, owner of Rankin Company, said the property where the North Creek Business Park will be located surrounds, but does not include, the property formerly occupied by the Holiday Drive-In.|ret||ret||tab|

He said the business park should complement, rather than compete with the existing Partnership Industrial Center, and the planned PIC West.|ret||ret||tab|

PIC West is being developed jointly by the city of Springfield, the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, the Springfield Business & Development Corporation and City Utilities of Springfield.|ret||ret||tab|

"The Partnership Industrial Centers, east and west, are catering toward the manufacturing user who would either relocate or come into town, be a heavy utility user ... that would use probably 10 acres or more," Rankin said. "We, on the other hand are looking more for the distribution user, the office warehouse users that don't particularly manufacture."|ret||ret||tab|

Rankin said phase I of North Creek Business Park will include 12 lots on about 59 acres, and phase II consists of approximately 50 acres. Both phases will be connected by a partially wooded detention basin with a walking trail for employees to use. He said the lot size at North Creek will be two to five acres, but lots can be combined for companies that need more space.|ret||ret||tab|

He said interest in the development so far has been from distribution facilities.|ret||ret||tab|

"They don't have a lot of employees, but they have a need for docks and space in which to move their products," Rankin said, adding that office and warehouse users also have inquired about the property.|ret||ret||tab|

Rankin said businesses in the Partnership Industrial Centers have to be manufacturers, so if he gets calls from manufacturing companies, he'll refer them to the PICs. He said he hopes when the PICs hear from distributors, they'll refer them to the North Creek Business Park.|ret||ret||tab|

Greg Williams, vice president of economic development for the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, said it's true that occupancy at the PICs is limited to manufacturers. |ret||ret||tab|

Williams agreed with Rankin that the North Creek development should complement the PICs, and he said the chamber works to ensure the success of private-sector properties like North Creek.|ret||ret||tab|

"We will, as an economic development partnership team, be very active and very aggressive in assisting private-sector property owners in national marketing and promotion of what they have available, so it'll be a partnership with our member investors and those property owners, as well," Williams said.|ret||ret||tab|

Rankin said the property will meet a need in the city.|ret||ret||tab|

"There has been a shortage of industrial lots for sale in Springfield lots for people who want to buy and build their own office warehouse building, or a business owner in Springfield who needs a 10,000- or 15,000- or 20,000-square-foot building for their use, but can't go into the Partnership Industrial Center," Rankin said. "There's not a lot of quality industrial lots out there, so we felt there was a big demand for a quality business park."|ret||ret||tab|

Williams said many distribution-based businesses are looking for locations here.|ret||ret||tab|

"As a matter of fact, we probably get more inquiries from warehouse distribution and office clients than we do manufacturing, and we immediately recommend available sites and available facilities that are owned by and managed by private-sector developers," Williams said. |ret||ret||tab|

Williams said the fact that North Creek Business Park and both Partnership Industrial Centers are all on the same street is an indication that past planners and other city officials have done a good job of locating areas in the city that meet certain specifications.|ret||ret||tab|

"You'll notice that most of the manufacturing, most of the warehouse distribution, is located in that northern corridor of the community, while a lot of the office and the medical and service and retail is more generally found to be central and south," he said.|ret||ret||tab|

The corridor where North Creek will be located is an area of the city that has shown a lot of growth, Williams said.|ret||ret||tab|

Rankin said he hopes to bring new companies to North Creek and the city, and also work with local companies that might relocate to the development. He said protective covenants and architectural controls are in place to ensure the park's look is consistent.|ret||ret||tab|

Bill Turner of TT& T Construction is the contractor for the first phase of the project. Rankin said the cost of improvements for phase I of North Creek Business Park is in excess of $1 million.[[In-content Ad]]