Grow west

Cape Girardeau's western fringe is home to the mall, Wal-Mart, McDonald's, Lowe's, Interstate 55, several doctors' offices and one of the city's two hospitals.

It is also home to new big-name stores like Best Buy, Logan's Roadhouse and Petco. It will also soon be home to a new restaurant, O'Charley's, and another new bank branch. There's even buzz about a new International House of Pancakes moving in.

So it's no wonder one real estate developer calls it the new heart of Cape Girardeau. It also shouldn't be a surprise that where new commercial growth goes, so do new homes.

"There are schools, all the new stores and restaurants, it's the booming part of town," said Mike Peters, president of California Homes, which is developing the 30-lot single-family subdivision called Emerald Forest off Bloomfield Road. "People want to live near places like that."

Over the past decade or so, there have been new subdivisions built west of I-55, including Winwood Lake Estates and Hillcrest subdivision. Now there are also at least four new subdivisions on file with the city. Several other developers have shown interest in building homes in the western part of town and in the county.

"It's simple," said city planner Kent Bratton. "It's where the land is. It's going to keep growing."

Buying Giboney Woods

At Emerald Forest, Peters has the sewers in the ground and a couple of the houses started in the subdivision, which will be southwest of Giboney Woods, another new subdivision.

Peters is in the process of buying the land that was to become Giboney Woods and add it to Emerald Forest and make it a 100-lot "community development," meaning it will have a swimming pool, a clubhouse and eventually a recreational center.

"We're not going to have any trouble selling these lots," Peters said. "We have 11 under contract, and we're talking to 20 to 30 people. It's more than the view. This is the subdivision where it will be fastest to get to the mall, Lowe's and everything else."

The sign in front of the dirt-work that announces Emerald Forest says, "Hurry, sites going fast!" and that homes start at $129,900, but Peters said one house will be in the $300,000 range. The rest will fall somewhere in between, he said.

Peters decided to build in the west after getting numerous requests from people wanting to be on the western part of town.

"Of course people are going to be interested in living out here," he said. "It's all in proximity to the new heart of Cape."

There are other subdivisions in the works. There are also plans for Elmwood Estates, a six-lot subdivision to the northwest, and Royal Lake Estates, with 19 lots to the north.

The biggest factor

But the largest new subdivision under development by far is Prestwick Plantation, a 600-acre subdivision of homes, condominiums and cottages.

Prestwick would eventually include four neighborhoods, a golf clubhouse, a recreation center including a swimming pool and tennis courts, a community retail center and day-care facilities. The homes would be built on wooded lots around lakes. The centerpiece for the subdivision is the 27-hole, 300-acre Dalhousie Golf Club.

"That's the biggest factor all of that's going in out there, is that golf course," said Jan McClanahan, president of the Cape Girardeau County Board of Realtors. "Things are moving west, but a lot of times, people want to be near a golf course. A lot of people love to play golf, and that's supposed to be a nice golf course."

Cord Dombrowski, a Cape Girardeau businessman who is one of the developers, said that they chose the western fringe because they needed large tracts of land. But a close second was because of its proximity to services, he said.

"We wanted to be close to the interstate, retail, medical and all that stuff that's readily available," he said. "The size and the location, those were two of the most discerning characteristics."

Dombrowski agreed that interest in that part of the city has grown since they began talking about it and most people seemed really impressed with the golf course.

"But that supports our decision that what we want to do is on the right track," he said.

Waiting on TIF

The project is not yet certain as the developers await to see if the subdivision is granted TIF status by the city council.

TIF is basically an agreement between the city and a developer to use the extra tax money that is generated by the new land development to fund public works projects like the building of streets. TIF status would redirect $12 million to $15 million in property taxes for such infrastructure.

Dombrowski said they already have 72 families ready to build and there are a total of 735 living units. There is also serious interest from others, he said.

Jeff and Debbie Nagle, a Sikeston, Mo., couple, will be one of the first people to live in Emerald Forest. They were attracted to the scenic beauty of the property.

"But we also liked the access to the highway," Debbie Nagle said.

"And that we would be near the stores and the restaurant," said Jeff Nagle, a chiropractor. "We think it's beautiful out here, but we also want to be near the things we're going to need."

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137