Squires Properties buys building on West Walnut

Newly formed Squires Properties Inc., a partnership comprising Jeff Schrag, Ron Walker and Lori Miller, has purchased the building at 310-314 W. Walnut for an undisclosed amount.

The building formerly housed one of Springfield Seed & Floral's two locations, said Schrag, who also is the owner of The Daily Events. Walker owns Ron Walker Construction, and Lori Miller is a graphic designer with Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World.

The two-story building, previously owned by Nick Sibley, has about 7,000 square feet on each of its two floors, and the upper level has eight small apartments. Schrag said seven of the apartments already are occupied, and Walker is doing some light remodeling on the eighth to repair damage done by a previous tenant. The leased apartments will be remodeled on an as-needed basis as the tenants come and go, Schrag said.

"The great thing about that building is the electrical and the plumbing and the structure are all fine," he added.

Schrag said doesn't know exactly when the building at 310-314 was built, but he thinks it's changed quite a bit through the years.

"We think upstairs it was a boarding house at one time, because it was a bunch of small rooms ... and then every so many rooms there was a community bathroom. And then at some point in the (19)70s, somebody punched a bunch of holes a bunch of doorways through and they closed up doorways into the hallway and made those into apartments," he said.

To describe the apartments in the building, Schrag said the trio calls them mini-lofts "because a lot of lofts are big and expensive, and we just think there's a market for smaller, inexpensive lofts."

Miller said she enjoys seeing all of the improvements in downtown, and buying the building lets her be part of that. "It's really convenient for kind of a younger generation to live downtown. There's so much to do and so many interests for people of that age, I think it's a great opportunity. It's very convenient for the night life, too," she said.

The trio noted that eventually, if things go well, they'd like for Squires Properties to acquire additional properties.

"What we like about the building is the tenants, so that's kind of a goal of ours, to have more residential properties in the downtown or Midtown areas," Schrag said.

While the group knows that the upper level of the building will remain residential apartments, they don't yet know what will be done with the first floor.

Schrag said the biggest question right now is whether The Daily Events will move from its offices at 301 W. Walnut to the new building.

"If it would work out, yes, I would love to move The Daily Events over there, (but) I have a great deal where I am now," he said, noting that were another business interested in leasing the first floor of 310-314 W. Walnut, that would be fine, too.

But he added that his reason for getting involved with buying the building was that he could guarantee in the long run that his business would always have a home downtown.

"The only way to absolutely guarantee that you have a place anywhere is to own some real estate, Schrag said."I love everything about having a business downtown. I feel I'm a part of what's going on and I think the future of downtown is very bright."

That optimism is something Miller hopes will catch on in the business community."We hope in the future that people will look more into moving their businesses downtown, and we think this would be a great building and a great opportunity for somebody," she said.