Saturday, November 23, 2013 COLUMBIA DAILY TRIBUNE www.columbiatribune.com 3
Rob Hill plans 108-unit complex on Paris Road
M
ore student housing is on the way, this time from local developer Rob Hill. Hill is planning a 108-bed apartment complex at 1322 Paris Road. All of the 27 units in the three buildings on the 2.64-acre site will be four-bedroom, a typical feature in student housing developments. Hill did not return a call, but his engineer, Tim Crockett, said the buildings will be two stories and should be complete this summer, before the beginning of the fall semester. Hill’s project on Paris is going on a site that formerly housed a church building owned by Grace Bible Church, which is located on Blue Ridge Road. Hill acquired the property more than a year ago. Back on Halloween 2012, Grace Bible Church transferred the land to COMO Community Center LLC, an entity created just a couple of months earlier. The entity also was registered as “Paris Road Community Center.” The only member of COMO Community Center listed was attorney Rick Montgomery, a partner in law firm Atwill & Montgomery, of which
Boone County Presiding Commissioner Dan Atwill also is a partner. The same day, back on Oct. 31, 2012, COMO Community Center turned right around and transferred the property to Hill’s company, 1322 Paris Road LLC. COMO Community Center did not record a deed of trust on the transaction, but Hill’s company used the property to secure a $550,000 note from Landmark Bank when it purchased the property. This August, Hill used the property to secure another note from Landmark Bank for $1.82 million and as much as $4 million in total financing, according to a deed of trust recorded on the property this summer. Hill has developed student housing before, notably the Log Hill Run condominiums on Commercial Drive in South Columbia. More recently, he
ran into opposition for a plan for a residential subdivision on 35 acres of land next to his house on Route K. The problem was, it is next to Rock Bridge State Park, and Hill endured months of pushback from state park officials and environmentalists before finally winning approval from the Columbia City Council — subject to lots of development restrictions — in September.
local income up
While most of the nation’s cities saw income growth slow in 2012, the average paycheck for a Columbia resident increased by more than it did the year before. Statistics released this week by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, or BEA, indicated most of the country’s 381 metropolitan statistical areas saw a slowdown in income growth in 2012. Total income in the Columbia area, however, grew by 5.26 percent to almost $6.67 billion, and average incomes grew by 3.63 percent to $39,557. That compares to a 4.93 percent rise in total income during 2011, and a bump in average income of 3.23 per-
cent that year. Columbia was one of only 65 metro areas that saw personal income growth accelerate last year, according to the BEA. Except for the recessions in 2008-09 and 2001-02, the area has seen stable growth in average incomes since the early ‘70s. Income also has grown steadily in the years since the recession. In 2011, income growth wasn’t as pronounced as the nation as a whole, which saw income jump 6 percent, but it continued rising and outpaced national growth by more than a percentage point in 2012. Still, personal income growth has just barely kept pace with inflation since the recession’s end. The average Columbia wage of $36,653 in 2008 was worth about $39,085 in 2012, meaning average annual income had only risen by about $500 in 2012 dollars.
quickies
Agave Mexican Restaurant is
opening a second location in the building formerly occupied by Kabuki Japanese Steakhouse. Agave said it plans to open at 1000 I-70 Drive S.W. by February. The new store will have an outdoor patio and can seat 152
people. Its existing location is at 901 Safari Drive. It’s unclear when Kabuki closed down. The local Play It Again Sports franchise is moving next door to a new location. The retailer, which buys and sells used sports equipment, leases space at 1206 Business Loop 70 W. Local franchisee Neil Copeland, who said he has owned the business since 2007, purchased the adjacent building at 1218 Business Loop 70 W. at the end of May. It most recently housed appliance parts store Schepker Parts Supply (it’s unclear when that closed) and, before that, Wilkerson’s Nursery, which had more than a 150year run in Columbia before closing in 1997. Copeland said the building will about double his space, and he also is building three batting cages in the building. He hopes to be open by mid-January. Lucky’s Farmers Market announced this week that it plans to open Jan. 15. The Colorado-based grocery store will fill the building that formerly housed Osco Drug at Providence Road and Broadway. Jacob Barker is the Tribune’s business reporter. Reach him at 573-815-1722 or jbarker@columbiatribune.com.
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