South Springfield office complex demolished

Last edited 1:13 p.m., Jan. 12, 2016

The Courtyard Office Center on East Battlefield Road has been demolished.

Demolition equipment was still on site this morning, where all that’s left of the over 50,000-square-foot building are piles of rubble. A wrecking permit for the 1031 E. Battlefield Road property was issued by the city on Dec. 30. Developer Scott Tillman, who was listed on the permit as the property owner, declined to disclose plans for the site.

Samuel Woestman, who owned the property through Curbow Inc., confirmed this morning the building sold Nov. 3. He declined to provide further details.

According to a Greene County assessor spokeswoman, the property deed was transferred in November to Branson Retail Investments LLC. That entity was registered with the Missouri secretary of state in 2012 by attorney Aaron Lyons of Hamburg & Lyons LLC. He could not be reached for comment this morning.

In October, Springfield City Council unanimously voted to rezone the 2.75 acres to general retail from an office district. Across the street from OakStar Bank, Courtyard Office Center tenants have included Apollo Hair Replacements and Benefits by Design Inc. People Centric Consulting Group also operated in the facility until January 2015, when the business relocated to 429 W. Walnut St.

The property has a 2015 taxable appraised value of nearly $2 million, according to the assessor's website.