2019 Year in Review No. 6: Commercial, residential projects line up in Rountree

SPRINGFIELD—The central Springfield neighborhood of Rountree, just east of the Missouri State University campus, has been targeted by both commercial and residential developers this year, with multiple projects announced or in progress.

In the fall, Haken Holdings GP LLC, an Austin, Texas-based real estate development company, revealed plans to build 14 two-story, cottage-style homes with porches along a portion of East Cherry Street and South Kickapoo Avenue. Haken Holdings owner Justin Helms said construction for the student housing project, dubbed Cherry Street Cottages, should start in January 2020 with completion aimed for August next year.

The Rountree Neighborhood Association, which was critical of the East Cherry Flats apartment complex built in 2015, is taking a wait-and-see approach with the Haken Holdings project.

Several commercial projects also are in the works for the neighborhood’s busy intersection of Cherry Street and Pickwick Avenue. Market concept Culture Counter, in the former home of shuttered Homegrown Food at 607 S. Pickwick Ave., is under development by owner Bryce Gott.

At 1427 E. Cherry St., a brick-and-mortar spot for Skully’s Food Truck and The Royal, a live music and bar venture, are in the midst of infill work. Next door at 1423 E. Cherry St., a two-story, mission-style building is undergoing renovations for two businesses: Greens, a flower shop relocating from 1307 E. Montclair St., and Artistree Pottery LLC, a paint-your-own pottery shop.

All the new commercial projects under development are looking at an early 2020 opening.

On the retail and dining front, a pair of planned projects announced in 2018 came to fruition in 2019. Ellecor Design and Gifts, co-owned by Haden and Brady Long, opened in January after relocating from a five-year stay at Farmers Park. In August, Team Taco LLC launched at 1454 E. Cherry St. The restaurant fills the space formerly occupied by Elle’s Patisserie LLC, which closed in January 2018.

Nearby the neighborhood, a $10 million mixed-use development designed to replace the current home of the Baptist Student Union is planned near MSU. A pedestrian-friendly landscape connecting to Rountree is part of the project, slated for completion by July 2021.