WHAT'S IN STORE: CAPE WEST PARK A MAJOR ECONOMIC FORCE

Dairy cows once grazed on prime pastureland on the Siemers farm. Today, the area has been turned into a major commercial development, harvesting sales generated by a crop of name-brand stores ranging from Wal-Mart to Target.

Cape West Business Park opened a decade ago with little more than a concrete street and the confident vision of developers Charles and Robert Drury.

"People were laughing back then because it was a road through a cow field," said Larry Westrich, vice president of Drury Southwest Inc., which helped develop the park.

Since then, Siemers Drive, named for the Siemers family farm, has become one of the busiest streets in Cape Girardeau. On average, more than 11,000 vehicles a day enter and exit the area, city officials say.

The commercial development has grown into a major economic force with about 30 businesses, most of them retail, operating on the 200-acre site that borders the west side of Interstate 55, stretching south from Route K to the new Highway 74 interchange. The area includes both the Siemers farm and the adjoining Keller farm.

The heart of the development extends along both sides of Siemers Drive, a mile-long road that is the main route through the business park.

Concrete replaces pasture

Concrete and neon have replaced the cows and pastures. The business park is home to about 2,000 jobs.

Earl and Irene Siemers still live on the land, but their modest farmhouse is all but surrounded by commercial businesses near the Route K entrance to the business park.

The Siemers won't talk about it, but over the years they've shown no interest in moving.

Groundwork for the business park started in 1989 and the first building, a U.S. Mail processing center, opened in November 1991.

A Wal-Mart Supercenter opened in February 1992. In the past nine years, numerous businesses have opened. They include Lowe's Home Improvement, Drury Suites motel, Target, Circuit City electronics store, Sam's Club, Hampton Inn, Outback Steakhouse, McDonald's, Staples office supplies store, Lion's Choice restaurant, Wehrenberg Theatres' 14-screen cinema, Hollywood Video and a number of other retail stores.

The area also is home to an Alliance Blue Cross Blue Shield office, Bluff City Beer distributorship, Bud Shell Ford and Wieser Honda dealerships, and, more recently, offices for the Missouri Division of Youth Services and Probation and Parole.

In all, Westrich estimates, there's about 900,000 square feet under roof in the business park.

Those high-traffic stores generated more than $180 million in sales last year, resulting in $4.5 million in sales tax revenue for the city of Cape Girardeau, as well as the county government, city and county officials say.

Cape Girardeau city government received $3.6 million in sales tax revenue from businesses operating in Cape West Business Park and the county collected more than $904,000.

Eleven of the businesses rank among the top 50 firms countywide in regards to sales tax revenue collected, Cape Girardeau County Auditor H. Weldon Macke said.

Westrich isn't surprised by the development's success.

"Cape was growing. The mall was out here," he said.

After Wal-Mart decided to build a store in the business park, other major retailers followed.

Westrich said the crop of anchor stores is certain to attract even more retailers, lured to an area that draws countless shoppers looking to buy everything from groceries to garments.

"Some companies want to be near Lowe's, Sam's or Wal-Mart," he said. "That's how a lot of companies pick their sites."

More development coming

More development is on the way with the start-up of a landscaped, mobile home park just to the west of the commercial area. The mobile home park has nearly 100 lots.

As for the commercial ground, Westrich said there are numerous lots available for construction.

The park is in an enterprise zone, resulting in tax breaks for some businesses such as Wal-Mart.

In recent years, the tax breaks only have gone to manufacturing firms, meaning most of the new retailers haven't benefited from the enterprise designation, said industrial recruiter Mitch Robinson.

Robinson heads the Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association.

"The real reason the area has succeeded so well is you have developers and owners who are extremely skilled in what they do," he said.

Its location right along heavily traveled I-55 clearly helps too.

"It's location, location, location," Robinson said. "Companies like to be very visible."

Having a mix of businesses helps too, attracting a wide range of consumers, he said.

More consumers means more traffic. The Missouri Department of Transportation expanded the Route K bridge over I-55 in 1995 to address traffic congestion.

The $3.8 million project widened the overpass to seven lanes, expanded the interchange ramps and added turn lanes.

Cape Girardeau city officials already are planning to widen Siemers Drive from two lanes to five lanes. The $1.6 million project could be under construction as early as next year.