Recent past, future of west side shows how Springfield is changing

Just 20 years ago, it was mostly farmland.

When West Bypass ended at Sunshine Street ... before Walmart ... when folks were just passing through on the way to Republic ... the western edge of Springfield was a quieter place.

That’s changed some in the last 20 years. It’s much busier and louder now, and in the decade to come, Springfield’s western expansion promises to intensify even more.

Earlier this year, Springfield annexed a piece of land at the intersection of Sunshine Street and Zimmer Road — it’s the future home of Menards.

Just last week, the city approved a second tax district on a 100-acre piece of land west of Walmart. It paves the way for Springfield Plaza, which is expected to draw several national retailers.

Officials believe that will get the ball rolling on even more development.

“I think once Menards is underway and we get some activity at Springfield Plaza, we’ll probably see more interest along there,” said Mary Lilly Smith, Springfield’s planning director.

Why the sudden surge?

For decades, local officials have expected the West Sunshine corridor to be an activity center with a lot of commercial development. In the early 2000s, when West Bypass was extended south and Walmart built a Supercenter, it seemed like more growth would occur.

That hope resulted in a move by the city to annex land next to Walmart. Developers planned additional retail. Subdivisions were expected.

Then the recession hit.

Both commercial and residential development slowed to a crawl. For west Springfield especially, it has not been a fast climb back

“Commercial activity on the west side of town has been relatively slow to grow,” Smith said, noting there’s been growth on Republic Road in the south and at a few other locations along West Bypass, but Sunshine Street hasn’t developed as quickly.

“Back along Sunshine Street (to the east), nothing has really happened until you get to Kansas Expressway,” she said. “Trying to tie all of that back into the center of town may be part of what has delayed some development out there.”

The economy is improving, however, and as is often the case for retail development, new home construction led the way.

Tom Rankin, the developer of Springfield Plaza, said that section of Greene County saw the most residential growth in 2014. That’s backed up by data from the Ozarks Transportation Organization and Greene County.

The census tract immediately northwest of the intersection, stretching west to Haseltine Road and north to Chestnut Expressway, saw 68 new housing units added last year. Since 2000, there’s been more than 800.

Several houses are currently under construction in the Stonehinge subdivision immediately north of the Menards land.

“One thing that drives retail is residential,” Smith said. “The more residential that’s developed, the higher likelihood we’re going to see more retail development.”

Planning, and bracing, for growth

Turning farmland into a major commercial district takes many years. It will probably be about 2025 before Springfield Plaza is complete.

Sunshine Street and West Bypass are already major roads with heavy traffic — about 21,000 cars pass through each day — and commercial development will only increase that. For Springfield Plaza to complete its project, the developers are required by the city to make about $10 million worth of public improvements.

That includes bigger intersections, better roads and stormwater improvements.

While the city requires those public changes, it also sometimes offers tools to help developers pay for it.

There were no special tax districts for Menards, which Smith said has a company policy of turning down such incentives because it doesn’t want to raise its sales tax.

Springfield Plaza has been approved for both a Tax Increment Financing District and will likely soon get approval for a Community Improvement District.

The TIF allows the developer to use revenue from incremental tax increases to pay for the improvements. So, as the property value increases and businesses start generating sales tax, a portion of that money will go to the developer.

Smith said the city has been conservative with TIF districts. In fact, Springfield Plaza is the only one the city has approved for the benefit of a private developer.

The pending approval of the CID also provides a safeguard, as a portion of that additional sales tax will go to pay off the TIF.

It’s all designed to jump-start development, Smith said.

Neighbors deal with change

It’s not just roads that have to adapt to more development. People who have lived in that area for several years have to adjust to a changing environment.

Janet Johnson, who for 46 years has lived on Zimmer Road, right across the street from the planned Menards, was vocal in her opposition to the development.

She said her primary issue was the traffic on Zimmer, which she said is already heavy.

“A big concern is this little narrow farm road that has really extremely high traffic right now,” she said. “We have a lot of big trucks that come through. There’s not room for two trucks to meet.”

She said she also is worried about businesses — particularly smaller ones in a strip mall — being built so close to homes.

“It could be a bar, a strip joint, who knows?” she said. “Or it could be some very nice businesses. Either way, it’s a business.”

She said she’s less concerned about commercial development just down the road on Sunshine Street.

“You can’t expect things to not change in years,” she said. “There’s always going to be progress. Though we enjoy what country atmosphere we have left, we know it can’t always be the same.”

What will that change look like?

Besides Menards, the names of specific businesses haven’t been released, but developers have been in talks.

“It’s been ongoing,” Rankin said. “We want signed leases. We’re not going to build and wait for them to come. We also want to meet their specific big-box needs.”

Rankin said he can’t say what businesses he’s been in discussion with, but folks should look to South Glenstone Avenue to get an idea.

“A lot of those retailers have been desiring a second store to give their current store some relief,” he said. “They want to attract a larger market.”

Some national retailers on Glenstone with only one Springfield location include Target, Pier 1 Imports, Barnes and Noble, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Best Buy, for example.

Rankin said the first phase of the development will include about 150,000 square feet of retail. It will take two or three years to complete, he said.

“One of those retailers isn’t going to go in a project by itself,” he said. “They want co-tenancy. They want that synergy from other retailers.”

Eventually, the space would allow for about 600,000 square feet of retail. Rankin said that will probably take about 10 years to develop completely.

During a City Council meeting in late September, Rankin said the property could eventually produce $30 to $40 million in sales annually, depending on the retailers.

But beyond Springfield Plaza, Springfield could continue to grow west.

How far will it go?

With both Menards and Springfield Plaza, developers came to Springfield and wanted to be annexed in. Those properties had been in unincorporated Greene County previously.

If land west of those developments is annexed into the city, it will likely happen in the manner it happened previously.

The state allows for annexation by a vote of the people, but that’s proven unpopular and ineffective in the past.

The only other way for annexation to occur is for 100 percent of property owners to sign off on being annexed.

Based on a 1996 agreement with the city of Republic, Springfield is allowed to extend, on Sunshine Street, to the intersection with James River Freeway. Republic can expand east to the same point.

After 46 years living so close to a burgeoning corridor of development, Johnson knows the landscape will continue to change.

“It used to be all brush on the other side of the street up here,” she said pointing to Walmart. “We know it will change.”

“Whatever will be will be.”