Sixty-Five Marketplace to develop at 65-and-J

Everybody has to eat, and a Price Cutter grocery store and several new restaurants hope to attract lots of customers to the booming Highway 65 and J area. Whether it's churchgoers, baseball fans or area residents, hungry customers will have many options on the east side of Highway 65 at J in Ozark.

Joining the massive James River Assembly of God church northeast of the 65-and-J intersection will be Sixty-Five Marketplace.

The 72-acre development will break ground on infrastructure in May, according to Steve Stinnett, who is responsible for marketing and overseeing the project.

Sixty-Five Marketplace is a joint venture of TriStar Business Communities of St. Louis and S.L. Stinnett Co. of Springfield.

Utilities and roads for the development are expected to be complete by September or October.

The development will be anchored by a Price Cutter grocery store and include a Hampton Inn, a convenience store, restaurants, medical offices and other service businesses, according to Stinnett.

With thousands of people attending baseball games, worship services and events in the area each week, the need for convenient restaurants and services has become more urgent, according to developers.

To help traffic flow more smoothly, the Missouri Department of Transportation is making highways CC and J three lanes and adding traffic signals at the off ramps. (See related article beginning on page 16.)

"The national chains are looking at Sixty-Five Marketplace, as well as strong local restaurants. The national chains know it's an ideal site with a proven track record," Stinnett said.

The Price Cutter store, comprising 58,000 square feet, will be a new prototype, and Stinnett said it will likely be open in summer 2001.

A proposed Hampton Inn will have 60 to 75 hotel rooms, and the whole parcel will take three to five years to be completed. Sixty-Five Marketplace LLC will construct a new street, James River Road, which will provide access to the shopping center.

A traffic signal will be added where the new street intersects Highway J and 17th Street, according to Stinnett.

Baseball fans will visit Price Cutter Park to watch Southwest Missouri State University's baseball team and the Ozark Mountain Ducks, who begin their second season of professional baseball in May.

Gregg Stancer, of CJR Commercial, purchased some land in the Sixty-Five Marketplace development and is negotiating a lease with Scramblers Restaurant for a new restaurant.

Bill Cox, president of Scramblers, said he looks forward to adding a fourth restaurant to the Scramblers family, which is owned by his wife, Julie Cox.

"There is a lot of commercial growth in that area. We felt like we had an opportunity to be the Scramblers of Ozark. An opportunity for a locally owned business to continue to expand is what a small-business person dreams about," Cox said.

He said the restaurant will seat 130 to 140 people for breakfast and lunch and comprise 3,000 to 3,200 square feet. Cox added that he hopes that construction will begin in October or November with an opening in late December 2000 or January 2001.

Lambert's Caf, which opened March 7, 1994, is adding 47 more parking spaces.

"Nothing was here then, and now it's a hot spot," said Manager Wally Brewer.

The 350-seat restaurant, famous for its "throwed rolls," added more parking because it was losing weekend customers who couldn't find a parking spot, Brewer said.

A large retaining wall was built, then filled in to add more parking. The April 15 opening of the new Fried Green T'amadas restaurant across Highway 65 doesn't concern Lambert's, Brewer said. "We'll just keep doing what we're doing, and we'll be in good shape," he said.

Another locally owned eatery, Cruisin' USA Frozen Custard, opened in February at 1530 Highway J. The 2,700-square-foot, 1950s-themed restaurant is owned by Ozark Gateway Properties LLC, which also served as its own general contractor.

Its location has already proven to be a good one, according to Managing Partner Carl Miller.

"We are attracting people from Nixa, Ozark and Springfield. After the first church meeting at James River Assembly, it was fantastic. And when school gets out at 3:15, it's real busy," said Managing Partner Carl Miller.

He added that the Cruisin' USA's proximity to Price Cutter Park and Lambert's Caf is also a draw.

There is no inside seating at Cruisin' USA, but there is a drive-up window, walk-up counters and outside seating under a 10-by-20 foot canopy.

There is parking for 50 cars, and on weekends, parking will be available next door at Southwest Community Bank, now under construction.

The new Southwest Community branch, at 1444 Highway J, is 3,600 square feet and will be open by April 15, according to Pam Linn, branch manager.

Flatness Construction is the general contractor on the project.

Linn said the visibility at the new location is "going to be wonderful."

The addition of Sixty-Five Marketplace to a neighborhood that already attracts large crowds will be a boon to the hometown bank's quest for more customers both residential and commercial, Linn said. Southwest Community's main bank is at 393 N. 21st St. in Ozark.

Aside from restaurants, stores and services, the southeast portion of the intersection also has new commercial areas. The 15-acre Skyline Business Center comprises six industrial/warehouse/office buildings and is owned by Wayne Scheer. There are eight manufacturing and distribution businesses in 110,000 square feet at 1400-1600 W. Skyline.

Scheer said he started developing the Skyline Business Center in 1990 and will add four or five more buildings. He now has 10,000 square feet available for lease in the sixth building.

"I had a vision it would be a good piece of land to own. I've come out real well," Scheer said. He has seven acres left to develop in the Skyline Business Center.

"I felt like it was a great intersection 10 years ago. It was established, with bridges and ramps done. It's close enough to Springfield and Ozark; it's a natural. It didn't really develop fully until Lambert's and Tony's Convenience Center went in. But it's incredible how one or two things can start a development working well," he said.