DEVELOPMENT EXPLODES ALONG ROUTE K AND INTERSTATE 55

Development at Route K and Interstate 55 has, of course, increased during the 20-plus years the interstate has been open.

Until recent years that growth was slow and steady. However, during the past couple years new businesses have sprouted so frequently that new construction seems to be starting in the area on a daily basis.

Why is it that development has suddenly taken off?

"First, you need to give credit where credit is due. The people who owned that land decided it needed to be developed," said John Mehner, president of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce.

"They put it in their minds to develop that area and actively marketed it and did very well."

Larry Westrich of Drury Southwest, the company that developed much of the Route K intersection, said one thing that helped the area was a change of attitude among owners of several chain restaurants and retail stores.

Many companies, he said, previously only located in large metropolitan areas. They are now seeing that cities with populations between 30,000 and 50,000 are good places to locate because they can also draw customers from a large surrounding area. Target department store, Ryan's Steak House, Ruby Tuesday's, Red Lobster and Outback Steakhouse are among just a few nationally known names to come to the city in recent years.

While being next to an interstate is helpful in luring new business due to the easy access it provides, that alone does not ensure development.

"So many people say that just because you have an interstate there will be development, but that is not true, Look at Cairo," Mehner said.

Having a good reputation as a city for new business, which Cape Girardeau has, and active recruitment combine with the interstate to breed development.

"We've definitely been trying to reach out into the business world and bring people in," Westrich said. "Cape has done a good job selling itself as being the largest city between St. Louis and Memphis."

During 1995 Drury Southwest opened a Shell station and a McDonald's in the region. A 8,000-square-foot strip mall next to Wal-Mart is scheduled to be 100 percent occupied within three to five weeks. Although Westrich declined to get specific, he said the company has many other projects in the works.

Continued growth in the region seems to be inevitable.

"You are just going to see continued growth in that entire area, but you may see it move away from straight retail and toward more wholesalers," Mehner said.

And after all the land immediately adjacent to the interstate is developed, construction and new businesses will likely begin sprouting even further west.

"I think it has to happen. Land is a limited resource," Westrich said.