Residential developments picking up in downtown Cape Girardeau

Last year saw the opening of the Courtyard Cape Girardeau Downtown hotel and last month saw the opening of a high-profile residential housing development in the form of Centurion Development LLC’s restored Lorimier Apartments. Barring an unforeseen setback, the coming months should see another high-end residential development brought to fruition in Kenny Pincksten’s Riverview Courts, a series of luxury homes on North Main Street, and the developer said the project has been so well-received he’s moving forward with plans to build a second similar development nearby because, as he sees it, downtown is the place to be.

“There’s been millions of dollars that have been invested in downtown Cape in the last five years,” he said.

And as a Cape Girardeau native, Pincksten said the proof those bets are paying off can be seen on the sidewalk on the weekends.

“I remember downtown Cape Girardeau when it was basically our mall,” he said. “All the traffic and foot traffic, all the stores. I can remember the events downtown. In the past five years, you can see that coming back again.”

Sarah LaVenture, assistant director of Old Town Cape, said Pincksten’s impression of downtown growth is borne out in the quarterly statistics her organization collects to measure new jobs, new businesses, residential housing options and other metrics in the downtown area.

Downtown Cape Girardeau is seen in a drone photo at dusk.Southeast Missourian file

“We’ve seen a continued upswing in the numbers in downtown,” she said.

LaVenture declined to share specific figures before Old Town Cape’s annual report is ready to be published, but said it will be released Feb. 28.

Pincksten, who was also behind the restoration of the Vasterling Suites at the corner of North Fountain Street and Broadway, which opened in the summer of 2013, said people are often drawn to live downtown for the atmosphere and proximity to workplaces and other amenities.

“We [as developers] spend a lot of money to provide amenities,” he said. “But being in downtown Cape right near the river, that’s its own amenity.”

But Jason Coalter, who co-owns Centurion Development LLC with Dustin Richardson, said with the Lorimier Apartments renovation complete, he’s focused more on providing more dining and entertainment options for existing residents of downtown.

“The more exciting we make downtown, the more people are going to want to live there,” he said. “I don’t think we’ll be successful in doing that unless we really, really, really invest in business and retail downtown. ... So my desire for Cape right now is to develop pre- and post-dinner entertainment to keep people downtown for longer than a few hours at a time.”

In addition, the city’s efforts to institute a commercial business district downtown have also helped foster development by tailoring zoning regulations to accommodate close-quarters development. Cape Girardeau director of development services Alex McElroy said the CBD regulations require design review to ensure proposed developments fit the historic character of downtown.

“There is also no off-street parking requirement in the Central Business District. This has been helpful for businesses, residential properties and restaurants when considering locating downtown,” McElroy said in an email. “It can be difficult for infill developments or redevelopments to accommodate space for additional off-street parking.”

Pincksten cited the CBD as a great boon to developers, adding his newest project will be two-story units with commercial space on the ground level and residential space above.

“It’s kind of for those people who have a boutique store or insurance agency or someone who wants to live above their business,” he said.

He said in his estimation, the downtown area has crossed a tipping point in terms of investment and development he expects to continue well into the future.

“People are kind of pulling the trigger (on downtown development) and it’s hard to see things downgrading once you see that happening, once you have a high-end luxury hotel that’s just opened,” he said. “There’s a lot going on, and for someone like me with a passion for downtown, that’s good to see.”

tgraef@semissourian.com

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