Second arena site RFP draws interest from new players

Until recently, Springfield hotelier John Q. Hammons and Branson-based developer Rick Huffman of HCW Evergreen Inc. had been jockeying for the rights to build on 1.7 acres east of the Springfield Exposition Center, but a new player interested in the project may alter the dynamic.

A partnership consisting of Chesterfield-based Gundaker Commercial Group, local developer Steve Stinnett and Wilhoit Properties of Springfield is reviewing a second request for proposals issued by the city April 24.

Gundaker partnered with Stinnett’s S.L. Stinnett Co. in early 2004 to acquire 136 acres at the northeast corner of U.S. Highway 65 and Missouri Highway 14 in Ozark for Town & Country Village. The mixed-use project encompasses about 1 million square feet of commercial space and 600 residential units.

Gundaker Commercial spokeswoman Merri Cross said the firm is reviewing the RFP to determine whether it will submit a proposal. “We’re going to collaborate with Wilhoit and Stinnett to see if it’s a viable project,” she said.

Gundaker Commercial is a full-service commercial real estate firm that spun off from Gordon A. Gundaker Real Estate Co. in 1996, Cross said. Gundaker Commercial has four divisions: construction, development, asset management and a brokerage.

Cross said southwest Missouri is a “new market” for Gundaker Commercial, which is in seven states and Puerto Rico but works primarily in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

Wilhoit Properties broker Ken Schwab said there’s a strong likelihood the Gundaker partnership will submit a development concept for the slice of land between the expo center and Jordan Valley Car Park.

“There’s a lot of components we still have to digest,” he said of the revised RFP.

The city’s second solicitation explicitly seeks an office building with at least 100,000 square feet of Class A office space and frontage along St. Louis Street. The building should be able to accommodate accounting firm BKD LLP, according to the RFP.

BKD has been in Hammons Tower since 1987 and now occupies nearly one-third of the 22-story building just east of the arena site. For more than two years, BKD has been working with Kansas City-based Zimmer Real Estate Services LLC to find land for a new corporate headquarters. Operations Partner Bill Kirkman has said the firm wants to keep its 260-plus employees downtown.

Three development firms affiliated with BKD – Atlanta-based Holder Properties, Dallas-based Hunter Properties LLC and Kansas City-based Opus Northwest LLC – also received the most recent RFP. BKD, which previously submitted its own proposal, is interested in partnering with the firm selected to develop the site.

The second RFP also includes minimum criteria for the proposed hotel: at least 150 rooms, 10,000 square feet of meeting space and a four-star rating under a nationally recognized flag.

HCW Evergreen Inc. has previously proposed a 150-room, full-service hotel under the Hilton or Embassy Suites banners. Huffman has said the “four-star-plus” property would have 10,000 square feet of meeting space and 23,000 square feet of ballroom space.

The city is also asking interested developers to submit detailed parking plans. Firms willing to purchase all or a portion of Jordan Valley Car Park will receive “favorable consideration,” according to the RFP.

Nixa-based Larino Properties and Pellham-Phillips Architects and Engineers of Springfield also received RFPs.

Pellham-Phillips principal Larry Phillips said his firm was co-architect for a multipurpose arena Hammons previously planned to build on the site.

Hammons later scrapped the plans and partnered with Missouri State University to build the $67 million JQH Arena on campus.

“To be honest, we don’t have a developer we’re working with now, and I don’t know that we will,” Phillips said. “But if Donald Trump calls me and asks me to be the architect, at least I’ll be prepared to say, ‘I know all about this.’”[[In-content Ad]]