Development news

Marquette on the market

The Marquette Tower and Marquette Centre in downtown Cape Girardeau, the focus of a much-heralded restoration and preservation job supported by tax credits, is on the market.

Prost Builders of Jefferson City purchased the Marquette Tower, a former hotel originally opened in 1928, for a reported $350,000 in 2002. At the time, the building was in such bad shape that city leaders had at one point ordered it to be sold or torn down.

Renovation of the structure in the 300 block of Broadway. which is on the national register of historic places, cost an estimated $6 million. The expense was supported by a combination of state and federal tax credits for historic preservation and environmental remediation.

Renovation of the 11,162-square-foot Marquette Centre at 221 N. Fountain St. was also supported by state tax credits.

Prost is asking $4.5 million for the Marquette Tower, Realtor Tom Meyer said. The Marquette Centre is for sale for $1.4 million.

The building is about 80 percent occupied, with state offices taking up a good portion of the space, and a restaurant tenant in the Broadway storefront. The Marquette has 66,117 square feet.

The sale would end the story of the building's renaissance. The hotel closed in 1971; it remained vacant from 1981, when a piano store at ground level closed, until 2004 when the renovation was complete.

The Marquette Centre is the former Southeast Missouri State University printing plant. The building has been extensively renovated, Meyer said, but has not been divided into individual offices.

"It is ready for that," he said. "There are two floors and a basement and it is all open. It has a loft appearance and the new owner can come in and partition it."

The days of wine and condos

COFFMAN, Mo. -- When Hank Johnson first proposed building a creole village of vacation homes on the grapevine-covered hills of his Chaumette Winery, one might have suspected he was drinking a little too much of his own vintage.

After all, this stretch of southern Ste. Genevieve County doesn't have any of the tourist trappings of outstate Missouri's biggest destinations. There are no resort lakes, outlet malls or country-western theaters. The nearest town of any size is Farmington, and that's 14 miles away.

But there is wine. And money.

The five vineyards near Coffman represent one of Missouri's fastest-growing areas for wine production. They're being watched closely by much of the Missouri wine industry, largely because of the deep pockets of the vineyard owners here.

Two of the wineries are owned by former corporate executives like Johnson, 64, a retired vice president of the Daniel and Henry Co, an insurance brokerage. The biggest operation -- Crown Valley Winery -- is the pet project of Joe H. Scott Sr., a wealthy developer of resort hotels and time-share properties who also owns about 2 million square feet of office, retail and warehouse space in the St. Louis area.

Johnson's plan is to build a wine-loving community in a mock French colonial town inspired by the historic homes of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri's oldest city. There's no evidence that the French settlers ever made their own wine, but that anachronism is easy to overlook with a glass in hand.

The Villages at Chaumette might be a pastiche of the 18th century, but the business plan is rooted in a trend of the 21st -- the growing appetite for wine, and for what some marketers call "the wine lifestyle." It's a term that has been used to hawk everything from ergonomically correct corkscrews to magazine subscriptions and, lately, to sell land.

To guard against a bad crop, Missouri's 72 wineries are focusing more on capturing tourist dollars that might otherwise be spent at nearby businesses.

Johnson has sold a dozen of the 26 condos currently under construction, and he's planning the second and third phases of the development that could include more vacation homes and year-round housing. So far, Johnson's marketing consists largely of answering questions from winery visitors curious about the construction hubbub.

The cost of the condos, which vary in size from about 1,200 to 1,300 square feet, start at about $210,000, with a $200 monthly maintenance fee. Owners can recoup some of those costs by letting the winery rent out their units on a daily basis and splitting the proceeds.

An anchor of the planned community will be a day spa opening next month that will specialize in so-called vinotherapy -- the use of grape and wine products in massages, facials and the like. The Belle Haven Spa, modeled after a similar operation near Sonoma, Calif., hopes to have another lure for the country club set: It wants to make a name as the place to recuperate -- under medical supervision and in secluded luxury -- from the embarrassing swelling associated with recent nose jobs, facelifts and other cosmetic surgery.

Many architectural details of the three-acre first phase are lifted from the Bolduc House, the Green Tree Tavern and other French colonial buildings of Ste. Genevieve, Mo., located about 20 miles from the development. The new buildings will look as if they are built in the vertical-log style of the oldest Missouri homes, and modern eyesores like air-conditioning units will be hidden by stockades. Motor vehicles will be landscaped out of view.

Condo buyers will be able to rent rows of vines planted close to their units. They can tend the grapes themselves, or pay Chaumette workers to do it for them, and have the winery bottle their own private-label wines.

Christopher Ruess, a winery consultant and wine festival organizer based in St. Louis, said he expects the trend of vineyard living to take root in Missouri.

"They've been doing this in California for the last 10 or 12 years," he said. "We're just now catching up."

Controversy brewing over revenue sharing

Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Southeast Missouri State University and Cape Girardeau County spent years negotiating how to share the cost of a new interchange on Interstate 55. In 2005, that cooperation was rewarded when federal lawmakers earmarked enough money to more than cover the $8.5 million price tag.

When ground was broken on the interchange, Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones called it "a lovefest."

This past spring, as Wal Mart-connected developer THF Realty delved deeper into planning the use for the university foundation's 400 acres at the interchange, area legislators won a provision in state law allowing cities to share tax revenue from developments on their borders. At that time, rumors that Wal-Mart would close the Jackson store -- a major source of city revenue -- were rampant.

But allowing cities to share and actually sharing the revenue are two different things, Cape Girardeau Mayor Jay Knudtson said.

The spirit of cooperation isn't dead, but the ardor has cooled. "The lovefest at that level has served its purpose," Knudtson said. "Now we need to acknowledge that we are two different communities and negotiate and execute development in a way we feel benefits our communities."

Knudtson's views came as a surprise to Jackson officials. "We have certainly had discussions about this revenue sharing," said Jackson city administrator Jim Roach.

But Jackson is willing to accept that Cape Girardeau may not want to cooperate as closely in the future, Roach said. "If there is a big-picture project that requires all the governmental entities to work as a team, we will get together and work that out," he said. "If it is everyone for themselves, we are OK with that, too."

Jackson Mayor Barbara Lohr said unwillingness to share revenue now could have an impact if Jackson is asked to support a major development with tax revenue.

"I am a little disappointed, but there's nothing I can do about it," she said. "If we're not going to share revenue, then I'm not sure what Mayor Knudtson feels we should do. If we're not going to use that regional concept and not going to do shared revenue from that whole region, that puts a different light on those things."

AmerenCDC funds Pemiscot County projects

CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. -- The board of directors of the Ameren Community Development Corporation (AmerenCDC) announced that it has awarded $1.2 million in funding for projects, including two projects in Pemiscot County.

The Pemiscot County Port Authority at Caruthersville was awarded $50,000 for development of a rail spur extension to Bootheel Biodiesel LLC plant.

Hayti Heights received $50,000 Center for Faith-Based Counseling and Community Empowerment for the asset building center.

This cycle brings the total grant amount awarded to $9.3 million completing the contributions for the AmerenCDC grant program established in 2002.

Since its establishment, AmerenCDC has provided grants to 71 projects resulting in the creation of 2,050 new jobs and the retention of 2,830 jobs. In total, these projects have created new investment in excess of nearly $248 million in the state of Missouri.

Marketing Ste. Genevieve

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. -- An attention-getting new billboard just north of the Highway 32 exit on southbound Interstate 55 is expected to increase the number of visitors to Ste. Genevieve. The billboard project was funded by the Ste. Genevieve Tourism Commission, the body that administers the town's hotel/motel room tax. The billboard will be in place for two years, and allows for the posting of announcements about special and seasonal events in the form of "riders" in the lower left hand corner. The board's placement should be of special value in capturing the interest of those on their way to visit regional wineries. The Tourism Commission worked with the Ste. Genevieve Chamber of Commerce in mounting the billboard project. Graphic design work was provided by corporate chamber member Eric Scott Leathers Ltd., and the project was coordinated by chamber board member Carrie Hoehne, an employee of Eric Scott. "We expect the billboard will catch the eye of travelers and we see it as part of our overall effort to increase tourism in Ste. Genevieve," chamber executive director Dena Kreitler said. "We were pleased to have worked with the Tourism Commission on this project."

Smith Properties project begins

DEXTER, Mo. -- Ground has been broken and construction is under way on an approximately 16,000-square-foot professional center. Sherm Smith, owner of the property with his son, Sherm Smith, Jr., says the project will be built in two phases: the first phase a building of about 8,100 square feet that will have three units, two of which are already rented.

Smith said JC's restaurant, now in downtown Dexter, will move into the first unit and the Visiting Nurse Association will locate in another. He said that interest in the third unit is high.

The new development is on the southern edge of the old Town & Country supermarket property, which Smith Properties bought and developed.

Phase II of the new project will be a building of a similar size located just west of the building now under construction. Phase one is expected to be finished in December, and work on the second phase will begin when the first is finished.

Walden Park nearly ready to lease

The first phase of Walden Park, a development of 125 single family homes and 195 condominiums being constructed by RiverWest Partners off Route W, will be completed soon with townhouses that will be available for leasing, developer Gerry Jones said.

The concept of Walden Park, which will be built over the next seven to 10 years, is to focus a community around common areas, such as a clubhouse, swimming pool and fishing ponds, rather than just layout streets and cul-de-sacs, Jones said.

Each condominium building will have 10 units each in a building of approximately 17,000 square feet, Jones said. Each will have a garage and a front door opening to the street.

Most of the units and houses will be 1,500 to 2,200 square feet, with high-end amenities such as granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, Jones said. Empty-nesters and young professionals, with or without families, will be the target clientele for the new development.

The price range for the condominiums and homes will be $125,000 to more than $500,000, according to the RiverWest Partners Web site, www.riverwestpartners.com.

Initial rents for the leased units now being readied will be $800 to $1,000 a month, Jones said.

GSA to lease space for offices

The U.S. General Services Administration awarded a contract to a Lincoln, Neb., firm to build new offices in Cape Girardeau for the Social Security Administration and lease the building to the government for $272,371 a year.

Social Security employees currently work at two locations -- a 7,681-square-foot suite in the federal courthouse building on Broadway and a 996-square-foot satellite office on South Silver Springs Road. The new offices, to be constructed on Cape Centre Drive off South Kingshighway, will be 9,738 square feet, said Charlie Cook, spokesman for the GSA's regional office in Kansas City, Mo.

The government's landlord, VerMaas Construction of Lincoln, Neb., will be given a guaranteed seven years with the Social Security Administration as the tenant with an option for three more years, Cook said.

The offices at the Broadway federal building must find new quarters because there is no space for the agency in the new federal courthouse at 555 Independence St. That new courthouse, about three times the size of the Broadway building, is dedicated to judicial purposes, Cook said.

Once the courts and support staff have moved to the new courthouse, Cook said, the federal government will begin the process of declaring the Broadway building as surplus.

The new $62 million courthouse, which was supposed to have been ready in August after numerous construction delays, sits empty while the GSA seeks approval to spend $2.2 million on repairs and mistakes made during construction. Cook said the approval is "a few weeks away" and that it will take about seven months after the approval to spend the money before the courthouse will be usable.

The GSA decided to lease new quarters for the Social Security offices instead of building a government-owned structure to avoid long-term maintenance and other costs, Cook said. "We are more flexible with the terms, and when the Social Security Administration needs to upgrade or alter the mission, we don't have to worry about getting rid of the building," Cook said.

The land deal was handled by Tom Kelsey of Lorimont Place and Brad Haertling of River Realty. The 1.7 acre lot is about half the available land at the site, Haertling said. It has been listed for sale at $299,000 by the owner, Eagle Peak Properties LP, a limited partnership company controlled by general partner James Rust of Rust Management Co.

Kelsey said he represented VerMaas in the deal, helping narrow down potential sites to the final location.

The tentative timeline calls for the new office building to be ready in about 12 months, Cook said.

MySpace has web of uses

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Web site MySpace.com is used by people of all ages to network and keep in touch with friends and family.

Now, businesses and musicians are using the site to spread the word about what they offer and to share their tunes. Others use it to organize events such as class reunions.

For instance, Tiffany O'Neal set up a MySpace page for her business, Tanic Tan, around the same time she opened it last month.

"I just did it to reach high school students and people in area towns I may not know, but they have a MySpace page," she said.

The site has enabled O'Neal to post pictures of her salon and the products she offers.

"I've had a few people e-mail me on the site wanting my exact package prices," O'Neal said. "And people get their first 10 minutes free if they mention they see it on the site."

Earlier this year, Melissa Seiler, owner of Patti Simmons School of Dance, set up a page for the school, as well as one for herself.

"I set mine up because it's easier than setting a Web site up -- I'm not technologically inclined," Seiler said.

A lot of her students are into the site, and even some parents have profiles, Seiler said. "It's just good for me to keep in touch," she said. "I'll send them messages and remind them that they have practice."

Bands use the music portion of the site to get their tunes heard, locally and on the music scene.

"We got tons of new fans, and we've got people that send the music and buy T-shirts," said Dylan Harris, who plays guitar in the New Madrid-based group Bare the Betrayal. "We've also gotten offers from venues all over the area to play shows and cover for bands."

The band signed up for the page about two years ago, when the site first got popular.

O'Neal said she also has a page on Facebook, another social networking site. "I think you can get a lot of coverage on the Internet," she said. "It seems like there's all ages on there now."

Sikeston competes with many industries worldwide

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Keeping established employers and their employees in Sikeston isn't too difficult. It's bringing new businesses to the area that proves challenging.

The top 15 Sikeston area businesses employ about 5,125 people with a combined total annual payroll of about $210 million. These businesses each employ at least 110 people.

Rounding out the top five businesses in the area are Noranda Aluminum, Missouri Delta Medical Center, Good Humor-Breyers, Sikeston R-6 School District and Sikeston Wal-Mart.

Most of these industries have a low turnover rate and employ mostly residents from Sikeston and the surrounding communities, their managers said.

For example, Scott Moore, human resources manager for Good Humor-Breyers, said its 800 employees are pulled from about a 30-mile radius. The business has a turnover rate of less than 1 percent, Moore said.

And James Moss of Gates Rubber Co. in Charleston, which employs 140, said the rubber hose manufacturer has a high percentage of workers who have 25 years of service at the plant.

"My No. 1 priority is to keep those 5,000 jobs and add to them. You have to take care of the customers you have first and help with their problems," said Sikeston director of economic development Ed Dust.

When Dust began his job as economic development director three years ago, there were almost 1 million square feet of empty buildings or available space. Now all but 200,000 square feet have been filled, he said.

Vacant buildings in Sikeston include the former Sikeston Market Place on South Main Street and the former Big Lots in the Village Green shopping area.

"We recently met with the owners of the (Village Green) building and basically told them we think the building is outdated and should be torn down. We suggested they build something new to better fit the area," Dust said.

The most recent industry to locate to Sikeston was Ace Building Systems, which announced its opening in June. Dust said it took a year to complete the deal that brought some 50 jobs to the community.

Dust said he's been proactive in recruiting retail by annually attending trade shows and expos, where discussion focuses on real estate and networking.

"When I started my career, we were competing with states in the United States. Now we compete worldwide," Dust said.

In addition to attending trade shows, Dust said many prospect leads come from Sikeston's Web site.

"If you don't have a good Web site or if they're not impressed, you don't get phone calls," Dust said.