Superior Rents to build south-side facility

Construction equipment rental company Superior Rents Inc. is working to build its second Springfield facility.

The company - which operates its headquarters at 3500 E. Kearney St., as well as facilities in Bolivar and Joplin - closed Dec. 20 on a purchase of 5.5 acres of vacant land at 5617 S. Campbell Ave., according to Superior Rents co-owner Steve Wohnoutka.

He said Superior Rents broke ground Feb. 12 on a 6,200-square-foot storage facility and showroom. Wohnoutka said the company is serving as its own general contractor for the building, with design work by Bolivar-based Design Group Architects Ltd.

Wohnoutka, who declined to disclose purchase or construction costs, said the company is targeting an early summer completion date.

Ross Murray, vice president of R.B. Murray Co., which served as broker on the sale, said the construction of the facility serves as an economic barometer.

"In the equipment rental business, if they're willing to make that commitment, given the times, it's hopefully a sign that development will be able to pick up pace," Murray said.

Superior Rents, which got its start in Bolivar in 2005, provides a range of rentals, including drills, floor sanders, lawn and garden power equipment, heavy excavation tools and aerial lift devices.

Wohnoutka said the new facility would fill a demand left unchecked by its north Springfield operation.

"South of Battlefield, we have very little penetration in the Springfield market right now," he said. "The amount of competition we'll be doing with ourselves will be fairly minimal."

Wohnoutka said Superior Rents purchased the 5.5-acre property from Don Peterson, who had placed on the market roughly 10.5 acres. The northernmost acreage is the former site of DiVentures Scuba and Swim Center, which relocated two blocks north in March 2012.

Wohnoutka said Superior Rents has made progress in moving dirt at the vacant site, and when completed, the site would be home to the building - one-third retail space and two-thirds storage - and a gravel storage area for larger equipment. He said the new operation would initially employ three.