Real Estate Search

Advanced Search

Blog

Our blog is a wealth of local commercial real estate information, covering everything from local market statistics and recent transactions to new business developments and press releases.

Sept. 18, 2018

Drury Southwest Acquires Lorimont Place Development

One of the largest corporate developments in the Southeast Missouri region has been recently sold according to Tom Kelsey, broker with Lorimont Commercial Real Estate.  Kelsey, who handled the sale confirmed that Drury Southwest through its affiliate, DSW Development Corporation has acquired Lorimont Place located at 240-280 S. Mount Auburn Road in Cape Girardeau.  The class “A” office and retail center, presently 88% occupied contains a total of 90,500 square feet situated on nearly 6 acres and is located along South Mount Auburn Road between Cape Girardeau Doctor’s Park and West Park Mall.  The sale to Drury’s will not affect the 11 tenants who presently occupy the complex.  Vizient, a Dallas based healthcare purchasing company is the largest tenant there occupying nearly  47,500 square-feet in a three-story office building on the site.  Other tenants include McAlister’s Deli, Edward Jones, Simply Swirled, Landmark Holdings, State Farm Insurance, Renaissance Beauty Academy, Dille & Traxel Architects,  Parmele Law Firm, Missouri Well-Care, Benton Hill Investments and Lorimont Commercial Real Estate. 

The Lorimont broker said the complex was originally built in 1993 by Cape Girardeau businessman, Earl Norman. The high rise office building was occupied by Norman’s company, Health Services Corporation of America (HSCA). Norman sold his company in 2001 to MedAsset’s who eventually was purchased by Vizient. DLJ of Arnold Missouri acquired the corporate development in 2003 and was the present owner and seller to Drury Southwest in this most recent sale.  Lorimont is unique for its architectural style, 150 car enclosed parking garage and trade-mark 40’ brick clock tower.  Kelsey said NAI Desco in St. Louis was also a participating broker in the transaction.  No sales price was disclosed.

Posted in Acquisitions, Business Growth, Cape Girardeau, Investment Property
no comments yet
Sept. 14, 2018

Krispy Kreme to Locate on William

At long last, Krispy Kreme will officially be bringing its signature doughnuts to Cape Girardeau.  Tom Kelsey, commercial broker with Lorimont Commercial Real Estate, who handled the property sale, confirmed the real estate transaction has been recently completed. The location will be directly east of the El Torero Mexican Restaurant at 2136 William Street.  The site is considered an out lot of the Town Plaza Center and according to Kelsey was purchased by Krispy Kreme from Greater Missouri Builders in St. Charles who owns the neighborhood center.

Eric Schneider, the Krispy Kreme franchisee based in Marion, Illinois, has been working with the city of Cape Girardeau on building plans and site layouts for the last several months and with the completion of those details is ready to move forward to immediately begin constructing the building on the lot.

The company operates a Krispy Kreme store in Marion, and the Cape Girardeau location will be their second franchise location.

Krispy Kreme joins several new business openings in the Town Plaza Center, including Slumberland Furniture, Midori Japanese Cuisine, retailer Here Today, Planet Fitness, Athletico and Harbor Freight Tools store.  Kelsey said other announcements will be forthcoming soon including a national franchise restaurant opening in the former Buffalo Wild Wings space that Lorimont brokered. 

 

Posted in Acquisitions, Business Growth, Cape Girardeau, Expansion, Local Business
no comments yet
Sept. 14, 2018

Benco Industrial Equipment Now Open on Nash Road

Benco Industrial Equipment is now open at 4014-C Nash Road in Cape Girardeau according to Tom Kelsey commercial broker with Lorimont Commercial Real Estate who handled the lease transaction. 

The St. Charles based company was founded in 2004, and handles sales, service and rentals of material-handling equipment, company president and founder Denis Benden said.  That includes forklifts, racking and warehouse shelving. The company’s major product line is Hyundai Material Handling. 

The Saint Charles location has 17 employees, Benden said, and he hopes to have about 10 employees in Cape Girardeau within a year.  The company president said Benco is actively advertising for employees for the new Cape Girardeau location.  This would include technicians and equipment sales people. 

Kelsey said the new company is in a portion of the building that ABF Trucking used for their truck shop and the lease arrangement also includes a large fenced yard area for displaying equipment along Nash Road. 

Posted in Business Growth, Cape Girardeau, Expansion
no comments yet
Aug. 28, 2018

Commercial Real Estate as Part of the Capital Market

Did you know that commercial real estate is considered a major asset class just like stocks and bonds?    

In order to understand this, it's important to first point out that commercial real estate is actually comprised of three separate markets: the "user market" (i.e., tenants and owner-occupants looking for space), the "capital market" (investors looking to invest funds), and the "property market" (supply and demand).  An active user market is the demand for commercial real estate.  Where there is demand, money from the capital market is likely to flow to it, thus creating a supply of commercial properties available for sale or lease.  This supply and demand creates the property market.

Looking at the behavior of these markets, you can see why commercial real estate competes directly for investor dollars with other investments.  When the expected risk and return of real estate is competitive or greater than stocks and bonds, the capital markets will invest in commercial real estate.  When demand for commercial real estate is down, you can expect capital to flow into stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and the like.

Commercial real estate also behaves like both stocks and bonds.  A commercial building with a strong lease in place will have the coupon payment features of bonds, while hopefully appreciating in value and like stocks.  According to the CCIM Institute, unleveraged commercial real estate should provide returns that settle somewhere between stocks and bonds.  The risk profile of commercial real estate should also usually be considered to fall somewhere between stocks and bonds.  

This is a simplistic view, of course, as the individual risk and return profiles of one stock or bond vs. another can and do vary, just as the performance of one commercial building can vary from one right next door.  The point is, the risks and returns associated with a commercial real estate purchase should be carefully analyzed just like any other asset.  After a thorough analysis, we may find that it makes more sense for you to lease space than to tie up capital in real estate that could be used for other, more attractive ventures or investments.  

Need a second set of eyes on your commercial real estate investment analysis?  We can help.

Posted by Chris Cole

Posted in Financial Analysis, Leasing vs. Buying, Market Updates
no comments yet
July 6, 2018

New Japanese Restaurant to Open

A new hibachi restaurant is expected to open in Cape Girardeau in early 2017 in the Town Plaza shopping center. Tom Kelsey of Lorimont Place Ltd., who brokered the lease, confirmed the finalized contract.  But owner Dinah Agustin says Midori Japanese Cuisine is unlike Japanese grills in the area. "We're not going to have a grill on each table," Agustin said. Instead, the meals will be made to order on a grill set away from the seating.  "The server will take your order, bring it to the chef, and they'll cook it right away," she said. "It will be very fresh."  It's a tactic she uses in her other restaurant, Hiro Japanese Cuisine in Jonesboro, Arkansas.  While there are people who enjoy the tableside performance of teppanyaki cooking, Agustin said she finds her patrons appreciate not having to wait for a table to fill before the cooking can begin. And they prefer being able to sit alone with their dining companions rather than rubbing elbows with strangers.  "We've been open 7 1/2 years," she said of the success of her method. "We've done pretty good."  On the grill, customers can expect traditional fare of Japanese hibachi restaurants, similar to what Agustin carries at Hiro: hibachi chicken, seafood or steak, or sukiyaki steak.

Off the grill, Midori will offer appetizers, soups and salads and a full sushi bar.  "We have the best sushi here," Agustin said of her Jonesboro restaurant.  Agustin chose to open her new restaurant in Southeast Missouri for the proximity to her current home -- it's about 2 1/2 hours between Cape Girardeau and Jonesboro, she said, which will allow her to travel between the two locations with relative ease.  She also appreciated the general size of Cape Girardeau.  "It looks like a growing city," Agustin said. "Not too big or too small." The new restaurant will fill the space left vacant by Bagger Dave's in 2014. Agustin said she was drawn to the property because of the location and the ample parking. Once she saw the location, Agustin said, she knew it was where the restaurant was meant to be. Midori Japanese Cuisine is tentatively expected to open in February, barring any unexpected hiccups.

Posted in Business Growth, Commercial Leases, Local Business
no comments yet
June 29, 2018

Worldwide Auto Group to Open in Cape

Southeast Missouri area automobile prospects will have another option with a new lease to own program being introduced by World Wide Auto Group. The Paducah based dealership plans to open a showroom and car lot at 766 S. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau. Tom Kelsey, commercial real estate broker, who handled the lease transaction, said the location for the dealership was formerly Carpet Connection that closed earlier this year. The location will be the fourth for the company, two located in Paducah and another dealership at Hopkinsville, Kentucky.

The dealership is unique in that customers rent to own their used cars with no credit check needed. World Wide Auto Group's website says they make the experience of getting into an affordable used car fast and easy with a 10 minute guaranteed approval process. Kelsey said the company is also leasing some adjacent paved parking lot to the South Kingshighway property in order to display as many as 75 available used cars and trucks. He also understood that they plan to use the front portion of the 6,400 square-foot building as a car showroom with sales and operations offices. The rear portion of the building formerly used as a warehouse would be converted to a complete auto service department including a shop for clean-up and minor mechanical work. No exact opening date was disclosed, but the expectation was sometime after the first of the year.

Posted in Commercial Leases, Local Business
no comments yet
June 22, 2018

China Town Buffet to Move, Rename

China Town Buffet plans to eventually move a block south of their present location according to Tom Kelsey, commercial broker with Lorimont Place, Ltd. Kelsey said his company recently brokered the sale of the former Pagoda Gardens property at 329 S. Kingshighway to Jerry Feng, owner of China Town Grill Buffet, currently operating at 213 S. Kingshighway. The former Pagoda restaurant operated at the location since 1987 and closed in 2014 when the owner Sam Prasanphanich retired from the restaurant business after 30 years. Ironically, Pagoda was the first restaurant in the Southeast Missouri area to offer a Chinese buffet.

Feng and his family will carry on the Chinese buffet concept at their new location. They have operated for many years at their present leased location in the shopping center anchored by Hobby Lobby. A popular Cape Girardeau affordable dining venue, China Town presently offers a large selection of authentic Chinese cuisine also incorporating some American traditional foods. The Lorimont broker understands the new buyers will make significant renovations both inside and out at the former restaurant building and this most likely will involve several months of construction before they relocate and begin operations there. No sales price was disclosed, but the Lorimont, L.C. website lists the property price at $619,900.

Posted in Acquisitions, Business Growth, Expansion, Local Business
no comments yet
June 15, 2018

Supercuts to Open in Cape

There will be another choice for hair care in Southeast Missouri with the opening of Supercuts in Cape Girardeau. Tom Kelsey, commercial broker with Lorimont Place, Ltd., confirmed that Lisa Clark and Lawrence Hatchett, Supercuts franchisees, will open at 3441-A William Street. The center is located adjacent to Walmart and next door to Payless Shoes. Supercuts provides a full range of hair services including men's haircuts, women's haircuts, kids' haircuts, color services, and waxing.

Each location also offers professional haircare products including Paul Mitchell, Biolage, Redken, American Crew, Nioxin. With more than 2,400 no-appointment-required salons across the country, the national franchise is owned by Regis Corporation and ranked No. 1 in the U.S. haircare franchise arena. Supercuts is one of the largest and most iconic salons in the nation among a $65 billion dollar industry. They serve more than 33 million guests annually throughout North America. Kelsey thought the salon would open sometime during the first week of November.

Posted in Commercial Leases, Local Business
no comments yet
June 8, 2018

New Farmers Insurance Agent Locates in Jackson

John Beaudean is the newest Farmers Insurance agent in the Cape Girardeau and Jackson region. Tom Kelsey, commercial broker with Lorimont, L.C., who handled the lease transaction, announced John had located his insurance office at 5785 Highway 61 in the Fruitland/Jackson area. Kelsey said the recently constructed multiple tenant shopping center is located next to the Dollar General Store and also contains a Subway restaurant. 

The insurance office has now opened at that location and offers Farmers' complete line of products including home, automobile, commercial, and life insurance. Agents also are authorized to provide financial services and products to their customers such as mutual funds and annuities. Farmers started business in 1928 and serves more than 10 million households with more than 19 million individual policies across all 50 states through the efforts of over 48,000 exclusive and independent agents and nearly 21,000 employees.

Posted in Commercial Leases, Local Business
no comments yet
June 4, 2018

Athletico Physical Therapy Opens in Town Plaza

Cape Girardeau and Southeast Missouri will have another option for outpatient physical therapy services with the opening of Athletico in the Town Plaza Center. The 25 year old company is one of the largest physical and occupational therapy providers in the country with over 400 locations and employs 4,500 expert clinicians, athletic trainers and other team members.

In addition to physical therapy, the national company also provides athletic training, occupational therapy, specialty programs and fitness services to high schools, colleges and professional sports teams. Other services also include evaluating workers’ compensation issues, like work conditioning, job-site analysis and ergonomic assessments.  Athletico offers its patients free injury screenings at all of their locations.

Local brokers Chris Cole and Tom Kelsey with Lorimont Commercial Real Estate in cooperation with the tenant’s national broker handled the lease transaction for the 3,150 square-foot space located at Suite 150 in the Town Plaza Center.

Posted in Business Growth, Cape Girardeau, Commercial Leases, Expansion
no comments yet

Categories

Archives