Twin Oaks Office Park to be complete in 1999

by Melissa Wilson

SBJ Staff

The future occupants of a new south Springfield office complex will have the option of walking across the street after a long day at work to take out the day's frustrations on the golf course or tennis court.

The first two buildings of Twin Oaks Office Park, 909 E. Republic Road, are expected to be complete in spring 1999, according to owner and contractor Morris Dock.

Located south of James River Freeway and west of the intersection of National Avenue and Republic Road, the seven-building, 73,000-square-foot office park will offer its occupants high visibility and easy access, including more than 250 parking spaces and a view of one of the best-maintained golf courses in Springfield, Twin Oaks Country Club & Golf Course, 1020 E. Republic Road, Dock said.

Designed by Slone Architects Inc. and contracted and owned by Morris and Debbie Dock of Mo Do Co Inc., Twin Oaks Office Park will be south Springfield's largest office complex since Woodhurst Office Park, at 1200 E. Woodhurst Dr., was built in 1982.

The first step in beginning a project this large was finding out what the demand was for another office complex in south Springfield, said Ken Schwab, Realtor.

"I think Morris noticed how good office development has been in the last five years in south Springfield; there's been a strong demand for it, and what he wanted to do was come to the table with a product that's more than competitively priced, in a really great location and in a size that would meet most people's demands," Schwab said.

Dock said the Twin Oaks Office Park project came about as a result of a client asking him to be the contractor for a potential project on the land, which was already zoned for commercial office space.

He then was given the opportunity to be both contractor and owner when the client decided not to pursue the project.

"As the idea grew, I was asked to be an investor, and then, from an investor's point of view, I looked at considering other avenues for a contractor; then I asked myself, who would be my best customer? ... Me," Dock said.

Since the hillside above James River Freeway was already zoned for a high-end office facility, Dock said he took the idea a little further and looked at the office condominium approach "so that we wouldn't have to go through and plot each individual lot; this way people can own the facility and be a joint association where the overhead costs can be kept down and land development costs come down for everyone," Dock said.

Dock and Schwab agree the office complex boom in south Springfield in recent years is because of the accessibility of James River Freeway and the fact that there is not an abundance of large office buildings like Hammons Tower in Springfield.

"People do want, and there's been a proliferation of, what we call 'park-at-your-door' buildings in south Springfield ... people want a more convenient, accessible office for their employees and their customers," Schwab said.

The two buildings under construction have both been sold, one to multiple buyers and the other to the Law Offices of Gary Green, now at 1211 S. Glenstone Ave, Ste. 403.

The smallest space Twin Oaks Office Park offers is 5,000 square feet, and the largest is 12,000 square feet.

The sale price to purchace an office in Twin Oaks Office Park is $90 per square foot.

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