LORIMONT PLACE INTEGRAL PART OF DEVELOPMENT ON MT. AUBURN ROAD

One of the most stunning complexes along the rapidly developing Mt. Auburn Road has been the $13 million Lorimont Place, a retail-professional office complex and the corporate home to Health Services Corporation of America.

Lorimont Place, 840 S. Mt. Auburn Rd., is situated between West Park Mall and Doctors' Park.

The complex is home to HSCA, a group purchasing organization for hospitals and alternate medical facilities across the nation.

Earl Norman, president of HSCA, said the Cape Girardeau site was appropriate for the national headquarters for the company, which this year celebrates 25 years in business.

"We're a national corporation with hospitals and heath care facilities in all 50 states and some international facilities," Norman said. "We bring people in from all over, and I wanted to make a statement about the quality of our company, that we're here to stay, and that we have some financial strength.

"This building makes all those statements to our customers and to the community."

The complex, of classical and modern Williamsburg styling, includes the four-level, 60,000-square-foot HSCA corporate headquarters building; a two-level, 32,000-square-foot structure for rental lease space; a two-level parking garage; and a 1.3-acre "out-parcel" area north of a plaza area. The out-parcel area is designed to accommodate up to a 12,000-square-foot anchor tenant with available land options.

The plaza at the center of the complex showcases a 45-foot clock tower and ties together the headquarters building and other parts of the complex, said Norman.

Four tenants -- Dumplins, a restaurant that features apple and chicken dumplings, Jeannie's Boutique, Cafe Cape and Bazaar, and Herbst and Company Jewelers -- now occupy the facility with negotiations under way for several other potential tenants.

"We're seeing more prospective tenants now than ever before," said Tom Kelsey, general manager of real estate services for Lorimont Inc. "I think that's indicative of the economic retail scene improving nationally.

"We've got some letters of intent pending, and we'll probably be making some announcements in the near future."

Kelsey said the design of the complex takes advantage of the site's location in the "heart of what's happening" in Cape Girardeau.

"With the extension of Mt. Auburn to the new bridge route, it will make Mt. Auburn even more of a thoroughfare than it already is," he said. "I think with our proximity to the interstate, the mall and Doctors' Park, we're kind of in the center of things in Cape Girardeau."

The complex design follows the natural slope of the land. The upper level is on the same plane as the outer ring road of West Park Mall and the lower tier, where the main entrances are situated, is level with Mount Auburn Road.

Norman said the company considered other cities for the HSCA development before choosing to remain in Cape Girardeau.

"I'm very sold on Cape Girardeau," he said. "I think the next decade or so in Cape Girardeau is going to very good in terms of growth and development.

"That more than anything else caused me to make the decision."

After living here 30 years, Norman said Cape Girardeau is home. "I want to help make this the best home possible," he added.

The city's location in the central United States, its historical heritage and its general work ethic also played a strong part in the decision to place HSCA's corporate offices here.

Norman said the response from the community to Lorimont Place has been extraordinary.

"I hope it's an example others will follow," he said. "Our city founders had that same attitude."

Norman cited the St. Vincent's Seminary, the Common Pleas Courthouse, the Southeast Missourian building, and N'Orleans restaurant as some examples of the vision of city founders who built with an eye for aesthetics and quality.

"All those buildings were of the same thought: architecture and investment that will last a long time," he said.

Kelsey said Lorimont Place is built in the same vein.

"Not only is it unique to Cape Girardeau, but it's unique between St. Louis and Memphis," he said. "You have to go a long way even in metropolitan St. Louis to find something like we've got."

The new HSCA headquarters brings all the local HSCA employees under one roof. Norman expects employment to swell from 60 to 100 in the next two or three years.

The office also houses the Health Careers Foundation. The not-for-profit association, founded by HSCA in 1992, provides $500,000 in scholarships for students in the health care field.