VACANT BUILDINGS INVITE COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL

Studies suggest that communities miss out on 80 percent of their prospects by not having sizable industrial space available. Once a decision is made sometimes after years of pondering companies are often ready to proceed quickly. And that's where the availability of vacant industry space becomes a critical industrial recruitment tool.

Cape Girardeau is currently without a speculation building. But the city has a ready abundance of marketable industrial and business space now available. As the economy improves, this space should work to Cape Girardeau's advantage.

Right now, the number of available space is unusually high, but it will probably dwindle in the next few months as properties are sold. It's part of the normal business flux. Many of the mid-sized properties such as 50,000 square feet or so peddle much quicker than the sprawling properties.

In all, there's more than 427,000 square feet of vacant industrial space. The largest of these vacated buildings is the former Florsheim Shoe Warehouse in the Nash Road Industrial Park, with an ample 277,299 square feet.

There are other large vacant spaces as well:

The former Bunny Bread Bakery on Christine Street with 60,000 square feet.

The former Paramount Liquor building with 30,000 square feet.

The old Harris Truck Stop buildings in the Nash Road area, with three buildings of 42,300, 6,500 and 1,400 square feet.

The former Mid-America Distributing on Highway 74, with 45,000 square feet.

There are also a number of vacant buildings that could be utilized as retail-wholesale space. There's more than 220,000 square feet of vacant buildings which fit this purpose.

These include the former Montgomery Ward building at the corner of Independence and Main, 40,000 square feet; the former Rivertown Mall, 5 N. Main, 26,000 square feet; about 30,000 square feet of available space between Toys R US and Heilig-Meyers Furniture; and about 34,000 square feet of space remaining in the Blattner Building, which housed the former Lowell's and Silo. A new business is moving into that structure in the coming weeks, taking about 5,500 square feet of space. Unfortunately, another 90,000 square feet of space will soon open up with the closing of Central Hardware.

The specifics of these vacant buildings are in the hands of executives from both the Cape Girardeau Chamber and Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association.

Local spec buildings have worked in the past, but they were constructed by a private developer Penzel Construction and not the area chambers. The company built three one each in Cape Girardeau, Scott City and Jackson, which were all occupied.

The abundance of these vacant buildings around town really negates the need for a spec building. Tax laws have also changed considerably, and spec buildings are simply not the good deals they once were.

Marketing these vacant buildings is the key. It's like putting a "For Sale" sign in a community's window. Even if a company doesn't like a particular building, they may be attracted to the area and bring jobs.