New Industrial Building Ready To Be Occupied
Industrial development plays an important role in sustaining growth for a community. For Phil Penzel, it is a passion. Penzel, President of Penzel Construction Co., Inc., a 107-year-old design-build construction firm headquartered in Jackson, Missouri, has been helping Southeast Missouri communities grow by recognizing where the region’s growth will occur and by creating opportunities for businesses to move into the area.
Penzel, partnering with the Jackson Industrial Development Company (JIDC) and Cape Area Magnet, has developed a piece of land in the Jackson Industrial Park adjacent to Route PP that is owned by the JIDC.
The new structure is a 50,000-square-foot, NUCOR metal building sited on 8.82 acres that can be fitted-out to meet the specific needs of a manufacturer, a distributor or other industrial company looking to relocate to the region. The 200-foot by 250-foot building has a sidewall height of 30 feet 2 inches, a center height of 39 feet 9 inches and can accommodate up to 20 truck doors and loading docks. There is space for 44 parking spots and one drive-in door, with more possible, depending upon the new tenant’s or owner’s needs.
This is the eighth speculative building—and the third constructed in Jackson—that Penzel has built since 1982. The first spec building was occupied by American Railcar Industries and the second is the home of Midwest Sterilization. Both businesses are located in the industrial park nearby, and both are still very successful today.
Since 1982, industrial needs have changed, and Penzel recognizes the importance of these changes by preparing for them. “Back in the 80s, industrial companies preferred buildings with an eave height of 24 feet, which would net an inside clear height of about 21 feet. That was fairly common nationwide. Now, with on-demand shipping, there is a requirement to hold inventory longer until the customer asks for delivery of their product,” notes Penzel. “You can either add on and build a bigger building or go vertical with an extra tier of rack storage. Today, anything less than a 30 feet clear height is just not that attractive to industry. Also back then, about 30,000 square feet was an adequate building size. Now, it is common for businesses to require 50,000 square feet of space with room to double the size for future expansion,” adds Penzel.
Among the other features of the building, Penzel Construction installed a fan and louver system to keep air circulating inside and lighting to offer good interior viewing for prospective buyers or tenants. The floor will be installed later according to the specific equipment foundation needs of the company. “It is better to leave it out until you know what the exact needs are, instead of removing concrete later,” says Penzel. Additionally, the site has been pre-graded in order to quickly add an additional 50,000 square feet of space, if needed. There is also room to build an office area within or attached to the structure, and room for additional parking adjacent to the office area.
“This structure was designed to have an additional seven pounds primary and secondary collateral load, which would lend itself suitable to hanging just about anything, within reason, from the structure, to support production needs. The entire 250 feet length of the east side of the building is designed to add many dock door locations as needed. Since this building is currently unoccupied, we chose to keep the cost down for now by only including one door and one grade level overhead door,” says Penzel.
In terms of location, the building is sited in Jackson, Missouri—half-way between St. Louis and Memphis; 1.5 miles from the nearest four-lane highway, 6.2 miles from the closest interstate and just 8.5 miles from the nearest commercial airport, making this location an attractive choice for businesses interested in expanding or relocating to Cape Girardeau County. Burlington Northern Railroads serves the entire region.
It takes a special kind of vision—not to mention guts—to put together a speculative industrial project. A spec building of this nature has only one initial use in that it is a tool to attract industry. It is nothing more than an empty shell until that business moves in. Building a spec building is risky business, but with that risk comes reward. Penzel sums it up by saying, “Once a business moves in and is fully operational, the end result is a benefit to the local economy and the creation of jobs. And, job creation brings long-term benefits to retail, housing and other sectors. It truly is a win-win situation for everyone.”
This project would not be possible without the support of our project partners:
• Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce
• Cape Girardeau Area Magnet
• Industrial Development Authority of Cape Girardeau County
• Commerce Bank
• The Bank of Missouri
• First Midwest Bank
• First Missouri State Bank
• First State Community Bank
• Montgomery Bank
• Capaha Bank
ABOUT PENZEL CONSTRUCTION
At Penzel, we are always innovating and finding ways to help our clients achieve their goals—through design-build construction delivery systems, competent trained employees, and state-of-the-art equipment and techniques.
We have come a long way in the last century and we intend to be here doing what we do best for many decades to come.
