Two firms join downtown arena site discussion

The 1.7-acre property, between the Springfield Exposition Center and the Jordan Valley Car Park, once was slated to be home to an arena backed by local hotelier John Q. Hammons. Hammons withdrew from that plan after partnering with Missouri State University to build JQH Arena on the school’s campus.

The city first requested proposals for the site in January, and responses came from HCW Evergreen LLC, John Q. Hammons, Springfield R-XII Schools in collaboration with Springfield-Greene County Park Board, and BKD LLP. In March, the school district pulled out, and the city later passed on Hammons’ proposal, leaving BKD and HCW in the running. The city then opted to reissue its request because the remaining proposals had changed significantly since they were first presented.

The second round of responses and statements of qualification were due at 3 p.m. Thursday. Responses came from:

• Opus Northwest LLC, from Kansas City, which proposes two options for the land. Its first proposal is an office building no smaller than 100,000 square feet, with the ability to be increased to 180,000 square feet; BKD would be the anchor tenant. The second is a two-phase project that would initially create an office building between 100,000 square feet and 120,000 square feet and later could include a hotel;

• BC Development Co., from Kansas City, which suggests a single building with about 300 hotel rooms, 15,000 square feet of ballroom and meeting space, and 120,000 square feet of office space for BKD LLP and other tenants. The building also could include 54,000 square feet of executive apartments and condominiums;

• Hammons, who proposes a 150-room Embassy Suites hotel with indoor pool, restaurant, fitness center, meeting rooms, 50 underground parking spaces, between 100,000 square feet and 125,000 square feet of office space, and potential upper-level condominiums; and

• HCW Evergreen, from Branson, which would build a 200-room Hilton or Embassy Suites hotel, with between 10,000 square feet and 12,000 square feet of meeting space, 30 condominiums, a full-service restaurant, a pool and spa, and between 60,000 square feet and 120,000 square feet of office space.

The Springfield Tax Abatement and Tax Increment Financing Commission, which will evaluate the proposals, is scheduled to meet at 1:30 p.m. June 4 at the Busch Municipal Building.

See SBJ's June 4 issue for more on the proposals for the former arena site.[[In-content Ad]]