2007 Economic Impact Awards Innovator of the Year: Green Circle Shopping Center

Green Circle Shopping Center will provide a new home for Dynamic Earth, a store that caters to outdoor enthusiasts and is owned by Matt O’Reilly.

While there are numerous shopping centers in and around Springfield, Green Circle – going up at National Avenue and Republic Road between Seminole Baptist Church and Twin Oaks Country Club – is different in that it’s being constructed with green-building techniques.

O’Reilly plans for the project to achieve platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification, and he hopes that others in the community will take notice and realize that commercial buildings can be both environmentally friendly and profitable.

“It will also use a lot less energy, but influencing others is the big effect,” O’Reilly said of the project. “Until it (influences) others to build greener buildings, the real cumulative effect on energy use won’t be as big of an impact.”

O’Reilly said that if Green Circle achieves platinum LEED certification – the highest possible – it will be the first shopping center to do so. Even though construction is still in the early stages, the project already is garnering attention.

The $3 million, 18,000-square-foot shopping center, designed by HufftProjects LLC of Prairie Village, Kan., has been featured in Architectural Record. Missouri Supermarket Builders is the general contractor for the center, which will include lease space for other tenants, including Mama Jean’s Natural Market, which plans to open its second Springfield store at Green Circle.

Susie Farbin, co-owner of Mama Jean’s anticipates that her business will reap the benefits from calling Green Circle home.

“(Green Circle) has already gotten a lot of attention, and it is not even built yet,” Farbin said. “I think once we are open, people are going to be curious to come see it.”

Farbin said the space will be something special.

“I’m really excited with it just knowing we are part of something that is so good,” she said. “You can just feel proud about it. Also, just the work environment will be so good because of the natural light and using fewer resources. I’m looking forward to lower utility bills and having a healthier environment for everyone to work in.”

Lower utility bills are something O’Reilly is counting on. Part of those savings will be passed back to O’Reilly as rent, and after the building’s debt is paid down, the center will become more profitable.

“In the long run, you’ve got a space that is making $18 or $19 a square foot instead of $14 a square foot after the building is paid off,” O’Reilly said. “It is more profitable in addition to being more environmentally friendly.”

Another side effect may be one of community building. In addition to Mama Jean’s and Dynamic Earth, Green Circle also will be home to Dynamic Body, a yoga and Pilates studio, owned by O’Reilly’s sister Lindsay, San Francisco Oven restaurant and a yet-to-be-named coffee and smoothie bar serving organic and fair-trade products.

“With Dynamic Earth being right there, having a place where people can sit down and be social, and with Dynamic Body being right there with yoga and Pilates, I think (Green Circle) is going to be something of a social gathering place,” Farbin said.

Dynamic Earth’s Green Circle Shopping Center

Address: 3036 S. Fremont Ave., Springfield, MO 65804 (Dynamic Earth’s current home)

Phone: (417) 877-8855

Web site: www.dynamicearth.net

Information accurate at the time of the honor.[[In-content Ad]]