After receiving zoning approval from the Springfield City Council, developer Corky Joyner has more than 250 additional apartments in the works for the west side.
Joyner is president of Joyner Construction Services Inc., a Springfield general contracting and construction management company.
“We have a pretty long waitlist on our two projects on the west side,” Joyner said, referring to the Cobblestone and Ash Grove apartment complexes he previously developed. Joyner said he currently has 380 apartments on the west side, but “we haven’t had a vacancy in our apartments in years. People move in and out, but we always have a waitlist and there are times we don’t even take more names.”
Joyner is now clearing a parcel of land in the 3100-3200 blocks of Mercantile Drive just south of AMC Showplace 12, although he said it will be at least another year before he breaks ground. He successfully petitioned to downzone the land from B-1 and I-1 zoning to R-5(b) zoning, which would allow for multifamily use. The city council unanimously approved the request at its Sept 17 meeting.
“We’re still expanding our project in Rochester, so we’re going to concentrate on that to make sure we get to the light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.
“We’ll put (the land) in wheat so it’s productive and hopefully start construction a year from now – maybe even a year-and-a-half or two years. We have to go through the subdivision process, large-scale development process, building permit process,” Joyner said.
He said the new apartment complexes will be very similar the ones built in Ash Grove.
“We’re not planning to build anything we haven’t already built at least once,” Joyner said. “You train all these guys; there’s no reason to reinvent things all over again.”
“Our standard 12-plex has worked really well and been very popular,” Joyner said. “In Cobblestone, because of the way the zoning got done and things we were forced to agree to, we don’t have any garages there. But this (complex) will have more in common with Ash Grove – attached garages are very popular.”
Despite increases in interest rates and construction costs, Joyner said, “The apartment business has been very stable for us… We’ve got good locations and a good product, and it’s up to us to continue to maintain them and keep everything going smoothly.”
