Commercial construction booming over 2010 levels

Cape Girardeau will see more than $101 million in new construction projects this year with more than half that amount being its new casino project. Jackson also has a large project driving up its commercial construction values -- Nordenia's new production facility.

From January through July, Cape Girardeau issued building permits for $25.2 million worth of new commercial buildings or renovations and additions to existing commercial buildings.

But this total does not include the $68 million Isle of Capri casino building or the $8 million Menards home improvement center that will be under construction this fall.

This year's building boom represents a 85 percent increase from commercial construction values in all of 2010, which totaled just under $15 million.

The Isle of Capri casino project is not included in the value of building permits issued so far this year because it is being permitted in phases, said Cape Girardeau city manager Scott Meyer. At present, a permit has only been issued for the footings and foundations of the casino on North Main Street. St. Louis-based S.M. Wilson & Co. and Roy Anderson Corp. of Gulfport, Miss., are managing construction of the casino complex.

Jackson is also having a banner year for building, with $12.7 million in commercial construction and alterations or additions to commercial buildings receiving permits from January through July. About $10.7 million of that total is Nordenia's packaging facility in the Jackson Industrial Park off U.S. 61 being built by Penzel Construction Co. Inc. of Jackson. In all of 2010, commercial construction totaled just $2.87 million in Jackson. Also included in that total is a $750,000 new fire station on the city's east side.

The Cape Girardeau and Jackson area are faring much better than the rest of the nation, which has seen only a slight increase in nonresidential construction. From January through June, nonresidential construction has increased less than 2 percent each month, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

During the first six months of 2011, overall construction spending is about 5.4 percent below the same period in 2010, the Census Bureau reports.

"There seems to be a little bit of a gradual pickup overall," said Bob Uhrhan, construction manager with Boulder Construction in Cape Girardeau.

His company is working on a $1 million addition to Immediate Convenient Care, owned by Saint Francis Medical Center.

Construction projects by SoutheastHEALTH and Saint Francis Medical Center are responsible for a portion of the $25.2 million in new commercial building in Cape Girardeau so far this year. Also included in that total is a $4.6 million addition to Saint Vincent de Paul Grade School and $2.2 million new stadium complex at Central High School.

The $5.3 million expansion and renovation at Sam's Club that's underway actually received permits in December and so was not included in 2011 totals.

Contrary to what these building totals suggest, local commercial real estate agent Tom Kelsey of Lorimont Place Ltd. said new construction isn't something he's seeing many clients interested in.

"Ground-up projects are one of the quietest areas of commercial real estate right now," Kelsey said. "We've had more activity looking at existing commercial properties."

This year interest from businesses looking to locate or expand in this area has significantly picked up, said Mitch Robinson, executive director of Cape Girardeau Area Magnet.

Overall this year, businesses seem more confident in investing in expansion than last year, Robinson said.

Whether a business is able to use an existing facility or builds one often depends on the specific project.

Blair Best Box, which moved into the former Thorngate Ltd. building, is a good example of a company that was able to take advantage of an older building, Robinson said.

In the case of Nordenia's expansion, it needed to construct a building because of the special needs of its production process, he said.

mmiller@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent address:

Jackson, MO

Cape Girardeau, MO