Illinois Business Journal Illinois Business Journal
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Collinsville soccer project blooming into large-scale, mixed-use development

By ALAN J. ORTBALS

   The proposed professional soccer project in Collinsville is moving forward and expanding far beyond a new stadium, according to Jeff Cooper, managing partner in the law firm of SimmonsCooper LLC and investor in St. Louis Professional Soccer Expansion Group LLC which is pursuing the Professional Soccer League franchise.
   While exact plans are still being molded, Cooper has acquired rights to more than 400 acres of land in the Collinsville area and is planning a mixed-use development that will include residential, office and retail components along with the soccer

. Crossroads Development LLC is planning a 400-acre, mixed-used project in Collinsville using a 'new urbanism' theme similar to New Town at St. Charles in St. Charles County, Mo. as shown above.
stadium and multiple soccer fields for amateur play.
   James Berg and Rob Christlieb, partners in the real estate development firm, Crossroads Development LLC, are master planning the project and acting as owners' [continue]

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Adjustable mortgages, spiked utility costs burden SWIL homeowners
By KERRY L. SMITH

   Homeowners in Southwestern Illinois with the goal of living the American dream are being met with "regionally unique constraints" on their disposable income - in the form of spiked energy costs, adjustable mortgage payments gone upward and more, according to area economists and real estate professionals.
   Although this is not the case for everyone who lives here, it is a reality for working families trying to stay ahead of budget unknowns, according to Frank Spreng, professor of economics and MBA program director for McKendree University.
   "What's occurring is putting a lot of pressure on people's monthly budgets," Spreng said. "You've got folks who bought up - during the housing boom of the past [continue]

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Imperial Manufacturing makes the bulk of its galvanized furnace duct connectors, stovepipe and related products from its new plant in Alton Center Business Park. The company says the secret to its success is its local workforce.
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Imperial Manufacturing locates U.S. hub in Alton
By ALAN J. ORTBALS

   Imperial Manufacturing Group, a Canadian-based manufacturer and distributor of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and building products, has moved its U.S. operations facility from Hamel to Alton Center Business Park in downtown Alton.
   Initially occupying 122,400 square feet, Imperial Manufacturing has been rapidly expanding and has a right-of-first-refusal on an additional 100,000 square feet of space in the same building.
   The firm was founded by Normand Caissie in New Brunswick, Canada in 1979. Caissie was just 26 [continue]