Springfield manufacturer plans Ozark relocation

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SLS International to lease portion of Fasco building|ret||ret||tab|

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by Jill Henry|ret||ret||tab|

SBJ Reporter|ret||ret||tab|

jhenry@sbj.net|ret||ret||tab|

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Springfield-based SLS International announced Dec. 9 the signing of a 10-year lease for a 150,000-square-foot building on 11 acres at the former site of the Fasco plant in Ozark. The building, at 1650 W. Jackson, was part of 74 acres purchased by Bull Creek Ranch LLC in November. Two buildings were then sold to Direct Retailing Inc. which will move operations to Ozark from Colorado.|ret||ret||tab|

SLS' new building, which includes 6,000 square feet of office space and was built in 1984, will house production facilities for the development and manufacturing of SLS' ultra-high fidelity ribbon driver loudspeakers, electronics and sound systems.|ret||ret||tab|

John Gott, SLS International's CEO, would not disclose the monthly lease rate for the facility, but he said that the company expects to exercise the option of purchasing the building for $3.5 million in 2005. He has leased his current location in Springfield, 3119 S. Scenic, from Scenic Properties since 1980. The company outgrew its original 3,000 square feet and now occupies about 32,000 square feet. Gott said that he wasn't actively looking for a new facility. "It was kind of an opportunity that was presented to us and it was one of those deals that was so good we couldn't hardly turn it down, because we knew that within two years, there's no way we could function out of here with growth the way it's going," he said. "Toward the end of next year it would be very difficult to be doing what we do in here."|ret||ret||tab|

And what they do is attracting attention across the country. SLS has three product lines in development bearing the name of Quincy Jones, who, along with Sting, endorses the company's products.|ret||ret||tab|

"We have (the products) proposed to some of the big box retailers in the world," Gott said, but he declined to disclose the companies' names.|ret||ret||tab|

The new facility, Gott said, would enable SLS to produce up to $200 million of product annually.|ret||ret||tab|

SLS International is traded over-the-counter as SITI.OB. It closed Dec. 15 at $2.70 per share with a volume of 8,670. |ret||ret||tab|

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Moving in|ret||ret||tab|

Renovations to SLS' building are minor. "It's just a matter of some cosmetic things in the offices," Gott said. "In the main facility we're going to build a couple of specialty rooms. We'll build our test chamber and our specialty engineering area, but the rest of the facility was very up-to-date and suited our needs very well."|ret||ret||tab|

Pellham Phillips Architects-Engineers is the architect and MoDoCo Inc. is general contractor.|ret||ret||tab|

"The facility is in very good condition," said Morris Dock, president of MoDoCo, in a news release. "To build a facility of comparable quality today would cost $100 per square foot."|ret||ret||tab|

Gott plans to move his 26 employees gradually over the next six months, beginning in February. "We can't shut down production here at all," he said of the Springfield facility. "We have to maintain our production here and at the same time build in new production there so we can transition."|ret||ret||tab|

He also plans to increase his staff gradually. "It's very feasible that by the end of 2005 we would have doubled (our staff of 26) or be in the 50 range by the end of 2005," he said.|ret||ret||tab|

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Filling the void|ret||ret||tab|

Bob Murray of R.B. Murray Co. was the listing broker for the Fasco campus, which sat empty since Fasco left in June 2003. Finding occupants for such a large building can be a challenge, he said.|ret||ret||tab|

"Any time you have a large building like that, it's always a challenge. However, what we do is we take a marketing package of buildings like that and get that out all over the country to prospective buyers, tenants and large real estate companies," he said.|ret||ret||tab|

Murray also marketed the property on the company's Web site, www.rbmurray.com.|ret||ret||tab|

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