Built in 1946, a commercial building at 521 N. Boonville Ave. has sat vacant for years. Now, a local architecture firm is looking to breathe new life into the building and uplift the surrounding downtown area.
Initially, the building was home to an International Harvester farm tractor sales and mechanic business, complete with a front showroom and sales, back warehouse, as well as an area for cleaning and maintenance purposes. News-Leader archives reveal in the early 2000s, the building was up for sale. But in 2005, the building was transformed into a Latin dance club dubbed Rincon Latino Discoteca. Shutting its doors once more, the building was left vacant again in 2007.
This is not the first time someone has pursued redevelopment, however. US Photonics, a business specialized in nanotechnology products and services, purchased the building in 2007, according to Matt Schaefer, a senior planner with the city. The company prepared a redevelopment plan that was approved in 2017 proposing to redevelop the building for their office use. But those plans never came to fruition and the old building with a colorful past has remained vacant and blighted for more than decade.
521 North Investments LLC purchased the building in 2022 and is now seeking to rehabilitate it into a design studio for Dake Wells Architecture, a firm with offices in both Kansas City and Springfield off of Park Central Square.
"We've been downtown for the last 20 years of Dake Wells Architecture existence, so we are excited about purchasing this building and getting it redeveloped for our new offices," Brandon Dake, co-owner of the architecture firm, said Thursday night at the Springfield Planning & Zoning Commission meeting.
The redevelopment plan was in front of the commission because it needed to be amended away from the US Photonics-specific plans and to allow the current owners to utilize property tax abatement to facilitate the rehabilitation. Dake Wells' plans include renovating the existing building and demolishing two additions on the west side, replacing them with a new 3,500-square-foot two-story addition.
"The completed building will include a community room in the front, workstations for up to 40 employees, private offices, conference rooms, and new mechanical and electrical systems, including solar panels, to maximize energy efficiency," the city staff report noted.
Schaeffer said the project is an approximately $3.9 million investment. It is also situated within the Idea Commons area of the city which already houses several facilities, including the eFactory, the Jordan Valley Innovation Center and Brick City.
Several commissioners expressed their excitement and praise for the step toward redevelopment and noted that this will be a welcome catalyst for further reinvestment in the area. The changes to the redevelopment plan were approved unanimously with Commissioners Betty Ridge and Christopher Lebeck absent.