By ALAN J. ORTBALS
Home builders continue to flock to the Bluff communities in Southwestern Illinois.
Between June 2003 and May 2004, 2,663 new homes were started in Madison and St. Clair counties - the great majority of them
in
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Stark Homes is an example of a residential developer and home builder who is enjoying success in building in the American
Bottoms communities.
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Is Kuna Meat Inc.'s recent announcement to move to Dupo, Ill. from its current home in south St. Louis County a portent of
things to come?
Kuna Meat has been leasing 50,000 square feet of space in the Bussen Quarry on the Missouri side near the Jefferson
Barracks Bridge. Continued and expected future growth led Kuna to the conclusion that it needed to expand to 80,000 square
feet.
The company performed a thorough search of South County and Fenton-area real estate but could not fulfill its needs,
according to Kuna Meat attorney Mike Kaemmerer with McCarthy, Leonard and Kaemmerer.
Kuna Meat's story is typical of the South County industrial real estate market, according to Jeff Hawley, vice president
with Colliers Turley Martin Tucker.
Owners of businesses have been reluctant to consider the Illinois alternative, he said.
"As much as 80 percent of the industrial users in South County own their own buildings and they live in South or West (St.
Louis) County," said Hawley. "Their labor force is located in South County or Jefferson County.
"These entrepreneurial people live in Chesterfield or Manchester or Ballwin and they don't want to fight the traffic and
drive to Westport or that area," he added.
Meanwhile, companies can't go very far south because of the Ozark Uplift
which is characterized by hilly terrain and rocky soil. This geography makes it
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Look inside our print edition for more Southwestern Illinois Real Estate articles!
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