MIDDLE MARKET HIGHLIGHT, JUNE 2007

Columbia
Dan Marcec

The Columbia, Missouri, commercial real estate market has seen a significant amount of retail and hotel development lately, and with more than 500,000 square feet of industrial space presently available, expect absorption in that sector to pick up the pace as well. In fact, Boone County — of which Columbia, a city of almost 92,000 people, is the county seat — recently enacted new incentives programs for qualified manufacturers that plan to invest more than $5 million in the market.

“Acting as the economic development organization for Columbia and Boone County, we aim to attract advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, bioscience and back office companies to the area,” says David Meyer, marketing director for Regional Economic Development Inc. (REDI). “In addition, we work with our major existing employers, such as 3M and Square D, to make sure they continue to prosper.”

Currently, REDI is focusing on attracting companies in the life sciences field, especially industries that have potential for extensive collaboration with the University of Missouri-Columbia, whether it be in agriculture, engineering, healthcare or a variety of other areas. The university is the largest employer in Columbia, providing 8,002 jobs; while the University Hospital & Clinics (4,520 jobs), Columbia Public Schools (2,150 employees), Boone Hospital Center (1,769 employees), and the city of Columbia (1,220 jobs) also significantly impact the local workforce.

On the development side, one of the major projects to come online in the past year is the expansion of ABC Laboratories, which is adding a 90,000-square-foot lab facility in the University of Missouri Discovery Ridge Research Park, where its employment will double from 250 to 500 jobs in the next several years. ABC is the first tenant to locate within the $18 million research park, for which construction of the infrastructure is currently underway. Completion is expected in 2008.

 Retail development also has been quite significant. A new Wal-Mart Supercenter has opened at Red Oak Plaza, where a Kohl’s department store opened approximately 18 months earlier. In addition, there is land to be developed near the Bass Pro Shops in northeast Columbia. Also, in the mall area on the city’s west side, a former Wal-Mart store is being redeveloped into a lifestyle center.

“Among the city, the university and Stevens College, there has been an overall plan for a comprehensive downtown redevelopment,” Meyer says. That plan should be complete soon, outlining the future of the downtown market moving forward.

On the horizon, Meyer sees the greatest potential for development through a continuing collaboration with the University of Missouri at its new nanotechnology center and similar projects, where the university is committed to economic development. In that light, “transferring technology from research into marketable products will have a huge impact on the bottom line for both the University and for the city of Columbia, aiding positive growth for the future,” he says.


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