Wet weather hinders commercial park project

The wettest winter in nearly 50 years is causing a significant delay in the completion of a roadway connecting the north and south ends of a major commercial park along Interstate 70.

“It’s killing us, killing us, killing us,” said Paxton Schneider, one of the three partners in I-70, LLC—owners of the 138-acre industrial development Trade Wind Park on the northeastern fringe of the city.

The commercial park is intended to provide “shovel-ready” sites in the Columbia area that planners believe are necessary for attracting new industries to mid-Missouri. To date, Trade Wind Park has sold three tracts of land: a 9.6-acre tract to Old Dominion Trucking for a logistical transportation depot; a 3-acre tract for a group selling commercial condominiums; and a 4-acre tract on the road front with high visibility for a 30,000-square-foot, multi-unit retail building.

When weather allows, the final paving of the 8,000-foot stretch of roadway, which has been awaiting completion since September 2007, will reach from the south outer road of Interstate 70 to Richland Road, opening up a second 100-plus-acre tract for immediate availability.

No strangers to commercial development, Schneider and partners Mike and David Atkins have launched several successful business ventures in mid-Missouri and other parts of the Midwest. However, both Schneider and David Atkins describe the development of Trade Wind Park as their biggest achievement so far.

“We heard a consistent demand from the chamber, the city, the Development Council and REDI that Columbia has a lack of build-ready commercial sites. That’s what Trade Wind is,” Atkins said. “Trade Wind Park is our answer to a constant need,” Schneider said.

Trade Wind Park represents yet another investment in Columbia’s north and east areas by Atkins and Schneider. “I believe the opportunities in the north and east are great for the next several decades,” Atkins said, citing the Stadium Boulevard extension and the location of the new high school as examples of growth in this area. Schneider said that while there are lots of rooftops in the north part of Columbia, statistics he’s seen show that services in the north have not kept pace with residential growth.

What is special about Trade Wind Park, according to Atkins and Schneider, is that it’s the only sizeable commercial land zoned and platted, with access to all utilities as well as fiber optics, along the I-70 corridor.

“If a company’s site selector came to Trade Wind, within 45 days they could get a permit and within 90 days start construction,” Atkins said. The process of getting Trade Wind Park up and running was not so speedy for Atkins and Schneider, however. “Three years,” Atkins groaned. “In order to develop this site, we had challenges with [the Department of Natural Resources], the city, the sewer district, the county. It all delayed us by three years.”

While Schneider and Atkins said they understood the need for such entities to enforce their specific regulations, they said they believe the ultimate price is paid in a loss of jobs for mid-Missourians. “While we’re grateful to be through the process, we wish we’d had it up three years ago. It’s resulted in a loss of employees for Columbia,” Atkins said.

According to Schneider, during that three-year delay the cost for road construction doubled from its original bid, made 36 months earlier. The decline in the economy over the last three years has also “decreased the window of opportunity,” Atkins said.

Paxton Schneider (left) and David Atkins await completion of a road leading to their development, Trade Wind Park.

The professional/industrial/research park’s visibility from and access to I-70 are key selling points. Also, Atkins and Schneider have laid the groundwork in zoning and planning to allow for a greater range of uses.

“We have the most liberal land use list of any tract of land that I’m aware of in the county,” Atkins said. Consequently, Trade Wind is able to accommodate industrial as well as professional, retail, research or commercial tenants.

In March, the Boone Country Regional Sewer District voted to award the bid for the construction of a sewer line to connect the Trade Wind Park treatment facility to the City of Columbia sewer system, giving Trade Wind Park a million-gallon capacity per day. This type of sewer capacity and the number of acres available allow for large manufacturing or industrial facilities.

“This site allows us to accommodate a fairly large campus for a fairly large user,” Schneider said. And both he and Atkins view Trade Wind Park as an opportunity for the city to reconsider its reluctance to offer incentives to potential buyers. “Many national site selectors overlook Columbia because of our lack of municipal incentive offerings,” Atkins said.

Given the wave of anti-development sentiments among many Columbians, Schneider and Atkins hope to bridge the rift. The need for development to attract employment to the area is not a whim, Atkins said. “The proof is in the declining sales tax numbers,” he said.

“I want to live here in Columbia the rest of my life. We want to develop intelligently and cooperatively, and we’d like the city to develop its incentive plan. Trade Wind Park could be a great opportunity for the city to do so,” Schneider said.
In addition to I-70, LLC, the Atkins brothers and Schneider own a host of companies, specializing in developing new properties, redeveloping distressed properties, managing commercial and multi-family real estate, and purchasing land for development and farms. Their real estate management company, Alexander Forrest Investments, has approximately 85 employees in six states. Schneider is president of Alexander Forrest Investments, and Atkins is CEO.