Luxury apartments soon will be unveiled

Local real estate agent Tom Meyer is a couple of weeks away from unveiling the luxury apartments at 301 N. Lorimier St. into which he has invested more than a million dollars.

Meyer is part of a team of seven neighborhood investors called River Bend Investment LLC, which has been working on the project for about a year.

The Eagle Apartments, as they are called, used to have 14 accommodations, but now there are 11, including a penthouse with a private deck on the roof and a wet bar. The bottom floor has two wheelchair-accessible studio apartments.

All the living quarters are equipped with stainless steel appliances, maple cabinets, security systems, Jacuzzi tubs and double-pane energy-efficient windows (with excellent views of the river, I must say).

There are exterior cameras, two entrances and an elevator to all floors. These apartments were well thought out, is what I'm trying to say.

"There are very few things we would have done differently," Meyer said.

The apartment complex was originally completed in 1950 by F.X. Roth, who owned Roth Motor Co., a Pontiac dealership in Cape Girardeau. Roth constructed the building for $30,000, according to his daughter-in-law, Betty Roth.

In the book "Cape Girardeau: Biography of a City" by Felix Eugene Snider and Earl Augustus Collier, it is said that the editor of an early Cape Girardeau newspaper, the Western Eagle (later known as the Eagle) lived in the area's first brick house, which was built on this property. Because of the editor's residence there, which was sometime from 1850 to 1856 according to the authors, it came to be called the Eagle's Nest.

Also, Meyer is working on arranging an event July 1 where real estate agents will showcase their retail and residential property so people are made aware of what's available. Details are incomplete at this point.

* During Libertyfest on the Fourth of July, Old Town Cape director Marla Mills is encouraging downtown businesses to stay open for at least part of the evening.

The event brings people from Cape Girardeau and beyond who may not visit downtown on a regular basis, Mills said.

"It's a great opportunity for our business owners to really show what we have to offer."

Judith Anne Lang of Lang Jewelers said people typically aren't in a shopping mood during events like this, but it's a prime time to showcase her products in the window.

"A good window will sell your product," she said.

According to Lang, she once witnessed a man coming out of Broussard's talking to his girlfriend on his cell phone when a bracelet in the North Main Street window caught his eye. He walked inside the store and bought it.

Where there is foot traffic, there are window shoppers.

* The first Health Career and Job Expo, put on by MERS-Goodwill, was held Wednesday evening at the Osage Community Centre.

Dana Swan, business and industry representative for MERS, said 137 people showed up, which was more than she expected.

The job fair featured both education providers and employers alike, including representatives from Southeast Missouri Hospital, Saint Francis Medical Center, Chateau Girardeau, Sikeston Career and Technology Center, Three Rivers Community College and Metro Business College.

"A lot of graduates came out this time. We had several people from the Dana plant. Some folks came by who are ready to retire but would like to stay active," said Beth Keller, employee recruiter at Saint Francis Medical Center.

Swan said she chose the health field as the theme, and nursing in particular, because it's a profession to consider with manufacturing plants closing down.

* Johnny Gaines is moving his used auto dealership, J.W. Gaines & Son Auto, from Chaffee to Independence Street in Cape Girardeau. It will be open toward the end of the month.

Tim Krakowiak is the business editor at the Southeast Missourian. Contact him at 301 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63702-0699, tkrakowiak@semissourian.com or (573) 335-6611, extension 137