If I had a million dollars, the Springfield commercial real estate market is offering me a few options.
Here’s a glance at what I could have bought in real estate this summer (if money were no object), based on commercial property listings sent across my news desk.
• A former bank on East Sunshine Street is listed for $1.2 million, though if I limited its use to general office space, the price drops to $925,000. Here’s why: A restriction on the deed for 1465 E. Sunshine St. says the buyer agrees that “no part of the property shall be used in any manner for banking or financial services for no less than 40 years.” The 9,200-square-foot building comes complete with a drive-thru, but I’ve seen developers get creative with similar structures. Why not? The Sperry Van Ness/Rankin Co. listing says the price per square foot is roughly $100. The Greene County taxable appraised value was $984,000 earlier this year, and the assessor lists the owner as Citizens National Bank of Springfield/Empire Bank.
• It came as a surprise to see downtown’s McDaniel building pop onto the market, given its mid-2012 acquisition to anxious developers. Owned by brothers Brett and Bart Loethen for years, the deteriorating property needed new blood. So when an ownership group led by Matt Miller and Tim Roth took it over, downtown advocates understandably got excited. With the listing, Springfield Business Journal has attempted to reach owners Miller and Roth, but phone calls have not been returned. The duo have been more active working on plans to redevelop the nearby Landmark and Woodruff buildings, and were scarce on details about their McDaniel building intentions. But there is a rendering drawn up. The six story, 64,000-square-foot structure at 316 Park Central East is listed just shy of $1 million by Sperry Van Ness/Rankin Co. Should I roll the dice? On one side, downtown’s biggest structures haven’t fared well for redevelopment in recent history. On the other side, it’s enticing to consider the Heer’s building and McDaniel, along with the Landmark and Woodruff, coming together side-by-side. Maybe that’s too much to ask.
• The high-profile Tuscany Court office building fronting James River Freeway is back in the mix. The 28,800-square-foot building made headlines last fall when R.B. Murray Co. brokered a sale to Midwest Property Investment LLC, led by business partners Todd Johnson and Ken Straus. When the investor-owners bought it, the building was listed for $2.9 million. Gregg Stancer Realty now has listed the property for $3.29 million. The new owners spruced it up with a new coat of paint and a striped and sealed parking lot. The downside: Anchor tenant University of Phoenix has vacated the space. The upside: That creates a world of opportunity.
• Should I choose to get into the multifamily housing sector, a 55-unit opportunity is the Primrose Circle apartment homes on East Macs Court. Listed with Coldwell Banker Commercial for $2.19 million, the 25-year-old property sits behind Red Robin and Chick-Fil-A on South Glenstone Avenue and near Primrose Marketplace and other retail. It has been professionally managed by Debco Management during the last decade, but that comes with a monthly bill. Hmm.
• For the industrial types, a 35,000-square-foot property is available in Nixa’s Fox Hollow Industrial Park. The $1.29 million Murney Commercial listing notes production, warehouse, office and employee lounge spaces. At 2160 N. Fox Hollow Drive, just off Highway 160, the property is tucked behind Summers at the River Sports Complex. Should I choose not to plunk down the mil-plus, I’ve got a lease option for $14,000 a month, or $4.77 per square foot.
• One Springfield Place in southeast Springfield is on the market for $1.8 million. The multitenant office building at 1835 E. Republic Road, adjacent to the YMCA, contains 14,800 square feet on two floors and an unfinished basement, according to the Sperry Van Ness/Rankin Co. listing. The recurring income potential here exceeds six figures, with an annual lease tenant and other month-to-month leases. The list price is right in line with the taxable appraised value. This site could have had a hotel planted across the street, but City Council turned down developer Earl Steinert’s Hampton Inn plans and he took them up Highway 65 to the Battlefield intersection. Just down the road, though, Farmers Park is coming out of the ground and should create an influx of everyday occupants.
Of course, if I had $19 million, or so, I could have been the shiny new owner of the 135,000-square-foot Kelly Plaza along the South National Medical Mile. That title belongs to LG III LLC, which purchased the 19-acre, 30-tenant center this month from Rocos LP, a company owned by former Springfield businessman Larry Kelly.
The commercial real estate market is opportunistic, no doubt. But I digress, it’s time to stop dreaming and get back to copy editing. There’s a deadline screaming my name.
Springfield Business Journal Editor Eric Olson can be reached at eolson@sbj.net.[[In-content Ad]]
