Nixa Realtor expands into storage market

Elite Storage Centers LLC, which in February opened the first of two 150,000-square-foot phases in Nixa, offers a variety of storage types, including vehicle, mini and outside storage.

The second phase is slated to open in July.

Gregg Stancer said it took a lot of work to prepare the former Nixa Livestock Auction at the northeast corner of Highway 160 and Tracker Road.

“First, we had to get the entire 25 acres rezoned for all different phases and types of storage,” he said.

“Then, we had to bring in demolition workers to disassemble all of the old structure and undertake a major excavation project. And then, even though we picked the worst time of year to finish this project, with one of the wettest winters on record, we knew we had to get it done before the spring season.”

A major project

The Nixa project is an investment of more than $5 million, Stancer said. Heritage Construction Co. in Highlandville is the project’s general contractor, while Roseland Engineering LLP did the engineering work and Metal Building Co., of Houston, Texas, did the project design.

The Stancers also have an Elite Storage location under construction in Springfield at the intersection of Highway 65 and Division Street.

In Nixa, sizes of available spaces range from 100 square feet to 700 square feet, at costs of anywhere from $50 to $185 per month.

But Stancer, who also operates the year-old Gregg Stancer Realty in Nixa, said their facility offers variety.

“We also had been getting a lot of requests for open storage and enclosed storage that had video surveillance security and asphalt lanes,” he said. “We set out to have a state-of-the-art facility because a lot of higher-end customers are starting to demand that.”

A dying breed

The Nixa Livestock Auction had operated at the location since the 1970s. Livestock auctions are the primary mode of marketing livestock, where buyers from around the area come to bid on cattle to take them back to feed lots.

The closing of the Nixa auction facility

is part of an industry trend, according to Tim Schnakenberg, agriculture and rural

development specialist for University of Missouri Outreach and Extension. Schnakenberg, based in Stone County, said the number of small auction houses like the one in Nixa is declining.

“They’re kind of moving more to larger markets. The big markets seem to be getting bigger, and the small markets are getting smaller or going out of business,” he said. “That’s the case with a lot of different industries but definitely in the livestock business.”

In early 2002, a $3 million, 180,000-square-foot stockyard opened in Springfield near the Interstate 44 and MM Highway interchange.