North Creek Business Park growing with additions

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Ozark Mailing Service will soon have neighbors. American Tire Distributors plans to move in spring onto a lot across the street in North Creek Business Park on East Kearney, said company general manager John Foster. |ret||ret||tab|

Ground has been broken for a 60,000-square-foot "state of the art" distribution center, which will feature 11 bay doors and 2,500 square feet of office space, he said. The target move-in date is April 15.|ret||ret||tab|

American Tire Distributors, based in Huntersville, N.C., is the largest independent tire distributor in the United States, according to Foster. The company, which operates 62 distribution centers servicing 35 states, sells tires, custom wheels, equipment to mount tires and basically anything else a tire retailer or automotive repair shop might need to do business. |ret||ret||tab|

"We offer one-stop shopping for any tire dealer or anyone in the automotive repair business,'' Foster said.|ret||ret||tab|

The company, which has been in Springfield since 1994 and employs 20, is currently in a building on Florida Street that is about half the size of the planned distribution center. Foster said the company has outgrown the current facility. |ret||ret||tab|

"This will be the Promised Land for us, " he said. There are no plans to add staff once the move is complete.|ret||ret||tab|

Two lots north of American Tire Distributors' location have been purchased by North Creek Investments LLC. Aton Construction is building a 25,000-square-foot spec warehouse on one of the lots, with plans of expanding the facility to 50,000 square feet, said Jeff Aton with Aton Construction. According to Aton, no one has expressed interest in leasing the warehouse yet, but several brokers are prepared to solicit interest.|ret||ret||tab|

Aton said the metal building will feature decorative block. The warehouse will feature three stucco storefronts, which will contain three 10-by-12-foot overhead doors. The back of the warehouse will be the loading dock area and will contain six 8-by-8-foot overhead doors.|ret||ret||tab|

The building can be divided into 8,300-square-foot bays with offices to suit tenants, Aton said. The warehouse will also contain a fire system.|ret||ret||tab|

Aton said he chose to build in North Creek Business Park because of its proximity to Interstate 44 and U.S. Highway 65. |ret||ret||tab|

"What our tenants want are locations closest to highways," he said.|ret||ret||tab|

Plans are in the works for a 50,000-square-foot spec building to be built by investors on the lot just south of Ozark Mailing Service, said Tom Rankin, who owns North Creek Business Park with Charlie O'Reilly. Rankin Company is talking with a potential tenant interested in the entire building, Rankin said.|ret||ret||tab|

Other lots in North Creek Business Park remain vacant, but "people continue to look," Rankin said.|ret||ret||tab|

Rankin and O'Reilly bought the business park land five years ago. The park is designed to complement the city of Springfield's Partnership Industrial Center, Rankin said. While, the Partnership Industrial Center targets manufacturers, the North Creek Business Park hopes to accommodate those who need distribution centers or warehouse space.|ret||ret||tab|

Changes are taking place in the area that should make the business park more attractive to potential tenants. The city has made improvements to the intersection of Neergard Avenue and Kearney Street, which is at the southwest corner of North Creek Business Park. Eventually, Jean Street, which currently extends only halfway into the property, will be extended farther east, and Rankin said the city has talked about extending Packer Road to the north of Kearney Street, which is where it currently ends.|ret||ret||tab|

Rankin said a special feature of North Creek Business Park is its detention basin, which allows for off-site detention. No space has to be made on individual lots for stormwater detention, he said. Rankin said their goal is to develop a walking trail around the wooded detention basin for use by employees of businesses at North Creek Business Park.|ret||ret||tab|

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