Ron Stenger Cos. partners with Columbia billionaires

A new retail development may be on the horizon for 80 acres next to the Library Center on South Campbell.
Springfield-based Ron Stenger Cos. is joining forces with The Kroenke Group of Columbia, Mo., to build James River Commons at the site now occupied by Swing Right Golf, a driving range at 4553 S. Campbell Ave.
Swing Right Golf owner Mike Fadner was not surprised by the sale of the property he leases. He is shopping for a new location. Fadner, who said he must vacate by July 13, has owned the approximately 20-year-old driving range for three years.
Although The Kroenke Group is known as a developer of retail centers with Wal-Mart stores as anchors, Stu Stenger of Ron Stenger Cos. said a Supercenter would not be part of James River Commons. However, Jim Alabach, managing director of the project for The Kroenke Group, would not confirm or deny the possibility of a Supercenter. Ryan Horn, community affairs manager for Wal-Mart Inc., did not return calls by press time.
The Kroenke Group owner Stan Kroenke is married to Ann Walton Kroenke, niece of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. Both Kroenke and his wife were named on Forbes magazine’s 2004 Richest in America list: Kroenke at No. 203 with $1.4 billion in net worth, and Ann Walton Kroenke at No. 60 with $3 billion in net worth.
The Kroenke Group develops retail, office and apartment complexes. Stan Kroenke also owns the Denver Nuggets basketball team, Colorado Avalanche hockey team, Pepsi Center in Denver, and he is a part owner of the St. Louis Rams, all through Denver-based Kroenke Sports Enterprises LLC.
Stenger said it’s too early to predict a groundbreaking, but he hopes to reach build-out in five or six years.
Stenger said that Ron Stenger Cos. and The Kroenke Group purchased the land in January for an undisclosed amount from James River Freeway Associates. The two companies are in the process of creating a formal partnership, he said.

Billionaire connection
The project, which will be The Kroenke Group’s first in the Springfield area, came about through Stu Stenger’s previous ties to the company.
He worked for The Kroenke Group in Columbia before moving back to Springfield three years ago to work with his family.
“Stu and I have kept in touch and this came about through our relationship,” Alabach said. “We just feel it’s a great location. We think Springfield’s a very strong market.”
Both Stenger and Alabach declined to estimate the dollar value of the project or potential tenants. Plans are preliminary at this point, Stenger said.
“There’s going to be anywhere from a 130,000-square-foot to 150,000-square-foot … anchor store which would be on the west side of the property. And then we would do a shopping center in front of that, which looks like to be about another 180,000 square feet of shopping center space,” Stenger said.
Quail Creek subdivision, which borders the back of the property, would grow by 44 lots.
Stenger said that homes would range from $200,000 to $500,000. “(Stenger Homes) will be developing the new phase and selling lots to builders,” he said.
The entrance to the shopping center would be directly across from the new extension of Camino Alto, Stenger said.
“We’ll also have a frontage road that connects with The Library Center frontage road,” he added.