Brenden Moore
The State Journal-Register
A major redevelopment slated for MacArthur Boulevard near Laurel Street has been placed on ice.
At Tuesday’s Springfield City Council meeting, Ward 7 Ald. JOE MCMENAMIN informed his colleagues that plans to build a 9,000 square-foot strip mall and a 2,352 square-foot standalone building for a restaurant are a no-go for now.
The development would have replaced several buildings that currently hug MacArthur along that stretch, including one that houses a Family Video and Metropcs, one formerly occupied by the Federated Funeral Directors of America and another formerly occupied by a law office.
Developer ERIC HOOGLAND, the brother of Family Video CEO Keith Hoogland, was under contract to purchase several parcels from LADY OF AMERICA INC. necessary for the project pending a zoning change.
While the zoning change was approved by the SPRINGFIELD PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION in late February, final action in the city council kept getting pushed back until it was withdrawn last week.
“They wanted a timeout,” McMenamin said. “They’re still positive — the seller is still motivated to sell, the buyer is still motivated to do good things along MacArthur. I think they wanted more time to study how to best go about it and maybe incorporate some additional parties. So there’s no rush to this and I think we are likely to see another zoning petition come back to us in some form.”
Attorney GORDON GATES, who represented Hoogland on the zoning matter, said Hoogland “needed to get a few things sorted out regarding tenants and acquisition of other contiguous property.”
“Rather than keep the seller on the hook while we sorted that out, the parties agreed to back away from the deal for now,” Gates said.
A deal between the two parties is still possible down the road, but the brakes have been applied for now.
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Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 