Three businessmen combine to form 360 Land Development

A new real estate partnership focusing on developing unincorporated parts of Cape Girardeau County has ambitious plans for building and selling homes in 2008.

Mike Mathes, owner of Mathes Land Development, joined forces with Stacy Mansfield, owner of Midwest Construction, and Eugene Holloway, owner of Holloway Carpet One, to create 360 Land Development LLC, combining 12 subdivision developments and hundreds of home lots into the biggest development company in the county.

The name, Mathes said, comes from the concept that the company's properties form a 360-degree circle around Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

This map shows the locations of 360 Land Development sites.

The developments will offer homes that fit every price range, from young professionals seeking a first home to those who want a luxury home in secluded surroundings, Mathes and Mansfield said during an interview at Mathes's Coldwell Banker Select Realtors office.

And the size of the endeavor will put other development programs in the shadows: Mathes said the partnership intends to build 135 to 140 homes in 2008 and spend $45 million to $50 million on construction. In 2007, there were just over 300 homes built or started in the county, counting building permits issued in Cape Girardeau and Jackson and those recorded as being occupied in unincorporated areas by the Cape Girardeau County Assessor's office. Mathes, who already ranked at or near the top among builders in the county, said his firm built about 80 homes in 2007.

"The statement we want to make is that we are confident enough to merge together to build 140 homes in Cape Girardeau County," Mathes said.

A big part of Mathes's business has been building and selling homes as rental property investments to investors from outside the area, many from California. The construction program outlined for 360 Land Development, Mathes said, is the program for building and selling homes to local buyers. He anticipates constructing 50 to 75 additional homes for his investment program, he said.

Eight of the 12 subdivision developments are outside the city limits of Cape Girardeau or Jackson. Most are established developments that one or another of the partners owned before joining forces, Mansfield and Mathes said. Others include Whispering Oaks, a 140-lot subdivision off County Road 620, where 360 Land Development bought out the interests of developer Rodney Arnold.

Unincorporated areas are attractive because land costs are lower and regulations are looser, Mathes said. There are no planning or zoning rules outside Jackson or Cape Girardeau and no inspectors checking wiring, plumbing or other aspects of the building process to slow down work, he said.

"In the county we don't have nobody baby-sitting us," Mathes said.

The deal came together now because the partners see a bright future for the area, they said. The recent announcement that Saint Francis Medical Center will invest $84 million in a new heart and cancer hospital adjoining its established hospital means more doctors and other professionals will be drawn to Cape Girardeau.

And while nationally the housing market is slumping as foreclosures pile up, construction slows and existing homes go unsold, those problems are not biting the regional economy nearly as severely, they said.

"What we are doing is while everybody else says the real estate market is bad, we are investing," Mansfield said.

While Mathes's main thrust has been as a developer, hiring contractors for the construction end, Mansfield has a construction background. Holloway, who could not be reached for comment because of the death of his father, brings more than 30 years' experience in supplying flooring and other materials, they said.

Where each has weaknesses, Mathes and Mansfield said, the other members of the partnership have strength. "The reason this came about is because we competed against each other for the last 12 to 15 years," Mathes said. "We asked, how can we advance by combining?"

Mansfield said the national slowdown had one effect on the Cape Girardeau area construction market: Material prices are falling as demand drops off.

"Now is the time," he said. "If we don't do it now, we may never do it again."

Several of the developments included in the partnership have already seen substantial construction, such as Mathes's Saddlebrook development southwest of Jackson or the Whispering Oaks subdivision. Others involve entirely new projects, from The Enclave at the Lake off Highway 25, purchased by the partners with room for 93 homes, or Old Towne in Gordonville, with room for 49 of what Mathes calls "old-style houses" in a development designed to foster a family atmosphere and community living.

The Enclave will feature homes starting at 1,400 square feet at modest prices selling for $175,000 to $300,000. The Old Towne development will be a little more costly, with homes selling from $250,000 to $500,000 each, Mathes said.

One of the more expensive developments will be Winding Ridge, off Route Y northeast of Jackson, designed with 33 lots of two acres or more and home prices that will be in the $600,000-and-up category.

Other developers and real estate brokers contacted for this article declined to comment publicly on the partnership's plans, but some raised questions about whether the construction industry can supply the work force and other supports for the ambitious plan.

Mathes dismissed those concerns, saying the workers are available. He said he anticipates that up to 600 people could be employed both on the construction jobs and support companies. Overall, he said, the construction program is reasonable and realistic.

"That is a very conservative figure," he said. "We are basing this on very conservative times."

And while they are busy with the projects already underway, the partners aren't focused just on their current developments.

"We are looking for land every day," Mathes said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126