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News article courtesy
of Southeast Missourian Newspaper
Monday, April
11, 2005
Scott Moyers ~ Southeast Missourian
The Cape Girardeau area is putting more commercial
space back to good use, after years of seeing industrial buildings stand
lifeless, victims of the era of downsizing, recession and increasingly
attractive foreign markets.
But that downturn may be
edging closer to the end, if the flurry of activity that has gone on in
the commercial sector is any indicator. "My old saying is success
breeds success," said Tom Kelsey, commercial broker at Lorimont
Place Ltd. "Retailers notice Kohl's and Old Navy here, and that
seems to spark interest in others."
"We've had some
significant deals recently," he said. The most recent deal was the
sale of the Supervalu warehouse
property in Scott City. Kelsey handled the sale of the
260,000-square-foot former grocery distribution center and said it is
one of the largest warehouse buildings in the region. It sat vacant for
several years after closing in 2000, taking 160 jobs with it.
The property was purchased
by the Buchheit family, which owns home centers in two states. The
family is considering using the building for the company's trucking
division. "It was a big deal," Kelsey said. "It has so
much potential for job growth."
There were other
transactions that brought high-dollar properties off the market. Here
are some examples:
The 78,000-square-foot
warehouse facility is in the Dexter Industrial Park adjacent to the
ArvinMeritor plant and will be used by the national manufacturing
company of promotional items for shipping and receiving.
After significant
remodeling, O'Reilly Auto Parts recently
leased the Cape Girardeau property at 396 S. Kingshighway near the
corner of Broadway. The building is 12,000 square feet.
Charter Communications
recently leased the 9,600-square-foot warehouse and office building at 3140
Nash Road in Scott City. The building was the former Rhodes
headquarters. Charter will be using the warehouse for some of its
trucks.
There are other success
stories. Mitch Robinson, head of the Cape
Girardeau Area MAGNET, a business recruitment organization, said
there have been innovative uses of buildings, such as the city of Cape
Girardeau purchasing the old Jim Wilson building for its public works
headquarters.
"There have been some
unique properties come up that have had some interesting opportunities
for people," he said. "There has just been a lot of activity
in the real-estate market in commercial and industrial sectors. It's
exciting."
Robinson said that the
leasing and selling of these buildings means that more jobs are coming
to the area.
Such activity also makes his
job easier. "It really does help if people see bulldozers out on
property," he said. "It gets their interest up. If it's a good
place for them to do business, it may be a good place for me to do
business."
smoyers@semissourian.com
335-6611,
extension 137
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