Dutch Meyr among group that acquired Cape's Business Park

Longtime local businessman and former famed football coach Dutch Meyr is among those involved in the recent private acquisition of the Cape Girardeau Business Park from the City of Cape Girardeau.

This fall, Meyr, who's part of the aptly named Touchdown Development Group LLC., along with three other individuals he declined to identify at this time purchased the plot of land — located near the interchange of Interstate 55 with East Main Street and LaSalle Avenue — for $2.7 million with $1.8 million upfront.

In a news release about the sale, city manager Kenneth Haskin said selling the park was in the city's best interest financially, because developing the land would be "too expensive."

The city purchased the 247-acre plot from Southeast Missouri University Foundation for $6 million in 2012. Over the years, the municipality had sold around 44 acres of the land for just shy of $1.4 million.

The official plan is to do a "little bit of everything" on the land, a mix of residential and commercial development, Meyr said. The former coach specifically mentioned duplexes and storage.

Meyr said the park's proximity to other land owned by the group was among the motivating factors for the purchase.

He declined to provide many other specifics and said the group is still exploring development possibilities.