PIC West development becomes reality

Two tenants, 23 acres sold and nearly $6 million in projected investment are the latest developments at the Partnership Industrial Center West.

Stamina Products Inc. and Executive Coach Builders Inc. the industrial park's first two tenants both plan to begin operations there this fall.

In the meantime, members of the PIC West Administrative Council are working to fill the remaining 357 developable acres.

Karl Plumpe, senior manager of economic development for City Utilities, said the council is in negotiations with three other tenants. He could not name them at this time but said, "We're going to pick up that pace. We're very anxious."

Ahead of the pack

Exercise equipment manufacturer Stamina Products set the pace Dec. 7 when it purchased eight acres at the park's north entrance for $280,000. Con-struction is under way on the company's 80,000-square-foot facility, which is being built by Morelock-Ross Builders.

Bob McBride, one of four partners with Stamina Products, said the new structure will consolidate five locations into one for a more cost-effective operation.

"It's a combination of everything," he said. "Right now we're in four different locations in Springfield."

McBride said the fifth is in Rock Island, Ill., and will re-locate here when the new facility opens.

A September completion date is set for the more than $3 million project. McBride said Slone Architects Inc. de-signed the structure.

Stretching its limits

When commercial Realtor Barbara Beyer closed a $525,000, 15-acre deal in Jan-uary for Seymour-based Execu-tive Coach Builders, its owner David Bakare envisioned a larger employee pool.

The company started in Springfield in 1976, then moved to Seymour about five years ago when it expanded. The limousine manufacturer is again growing and plans to return operations here this fall. Ba-kare, who purchased Executive Coach in 1993, is eager to make the move.

"We're going to have a bigger labor pool to pick from," he said.

Bakare said he employs about 80, but his work force will jump to more than 120 employees when the transition is made. In the move, Executive Coach is adding three new lines: funeral, bus and specialty lines like Bentley, Rolls Royce and Hum-mer production.

More than that, though, Ba-kare said he is anxious to be-come part of the industrial park community.

"The industrial park itself is by far the most attractive single element," Bakare said. "There's nothing better than having a bunch of manufacturers in the same area. I'm sure we'll all get to know each other, and I'm sure someday I'll be able to bounce some ideas off of them and they can bounce some off of me. ... It's an option that I wouldn't have anywhere else."

Bakare said Bell Building Systems is doing the preliminary work at the site, which is just off Interstate 44. He said the total project cost for the 100,000-square-foot building will exceed $2.7 million.

Things to come

Even at this early stage, PIC West is spurring talk of more development in the surrounding area.

"It's interesting to see how the peripheral areas are growing because of PIC West," Beyer said, adding that she is experiencing more activity in northwest Springfield than before.

"It's kind of (been) a stimulant. It makes people take notice and look at possibilities that they might not have considered," she said.

Two options remain: residential and retail development.

Greg Williams, vice president for economic development for the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, said future residential development is "a definite possibility. And it's one that I hope happens."

He added, "People like to be close to their jobs. The northwest part of Springfield has been relatively ignored over the last 20 to 30 years, both from an industrial development perspective and a residential development perspective. I think that is something that we would encourage and gladly see happen out there."

Williams also confirmed that PIC West is spurring more commercial development in the area. "It's very similar to what happened on the east side ... when the manufacturing concerns began locating there, we saw a number of suppliers and service firms and commercial operations build and expand in that area simply to provide service and product to that industrial park. It's kind of a critical-mass perspective," he said.

When the west park is complete, Williams said, its numbers will resemble the east park's $175 million in new capital investment and 1,600 employees among 20 manufacturers.

"We can anticipate something very similar," he said.