Monday, April 17, 2006

HEER'S DEVELOPER MISSES DEADLINE

Developer Vaughn Prost was supposed to secure financing for the Heer's Tower project by Monday, April 17. He did not.

The City of Springfield now has the ball in its court. According to a city news release:
After today, the City is entitled to accept inquiries from developers interested in the Heer’s Tower.

Mr. Prost has indicated to the City that he continues to move forward on securing financing for the multi-million dollar project. Mr. Prost retains the option to develop the project if he completes the financing before the City considers proposals from other developers. Under the contract extension, the City has the right to terminate Mr. Prost’s development rights if no financing is secured by June 17, 2006.

"Mr. Prost already has made a significant investment in site work for the project and we will keep working with him if he continues to move ahead with his financing," City Manager Tom Finnie said.

The Heer’s Tower is proposed as a mix of residential condominiums, restaurants, retail and office space, with office tenants to include the State of Missouri, the City of Springfield, and the Missouri Department of Transportation.

"We made major changes to focus on residential condominiums to address a market need in Springfield," Mr. Prost said. "The new design work and process involved in that change has slowed my ability to close on financing but I remain confident that this is a strong and viable project for downtown Springfield."

Meanwhile, the construction schedule for the College Station development adjacent to the Heer’s Tower is being revised because of the City’s bid process for the College Station Car Park.

The initial bids came in over cost expectations for a number of reasons, including the major rebuilding efforts in the Gulf Coast region and strong demand for construction work created by growth in the southwest Missouri region.

The College Station Car Park design is undergoing a value engineering process and new bids are expected to be solicited next month. Construction schedules will be based on acceptance of the new bids.
None of this sounds like good news for downtown. But at least the big banner of the side of Heer's -- the one that offered "urban living at it's (sic) best" -- is down and mercifully banished from sight.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

In addition to the Heers lack of progress, I am wondering about the College Street Station project. The billboard on the site states it will be ready in Fall 2006. Right now, all I see is a flat parking lot with a pile of debris in the middle. Methinks someone needs to get his rear in gear, or has the momentum/enthusiasm for this project dwindled?

Anonymous said...

Has the bankrupt developer in the College Street Station project ever seen a chiropracter to remedy that "shooting pain" he experiences in his leg?

Anonymous said...

so bad. unrelated-but funny.

Anonymous said...

I keep waiting for "Big Jim" Shirato's Branson development fiasco to go into a similar meltdown. What is it with these guys, anyway? How do they manage to keep skating by when they're so obviously undercapitalized...and have such crappy track records?