Wittenauer Properties poised for success of regional market

By RITA DUCKWORTH
    David Wittenauer, CCIM, may have picked a good time to start his commercial real estate firm.
    “The Metro East commercial market is strong,” says Wittenauer. “Rents are stable and there’s a lot of demand for quality retail and office space.”
    O’Fallon-based Wittenauer Properties was established earlier this year by President David Wittenauer and Vice President Tom Maloney. Their focus is on the brokerage, development and acquisition of high-quality properties in the Southwestern Illinois and St. Louis region.
    “We are seeing strong activity from a variety of businesses looking to expand in our area,” says Wittenauer. “Local businesses, as well as those from outside the region, are taking advantage of a stronger economy, low interest rates, and the availability of land here.” Wittenauer points to numerous developments throughout the Metro East that are giving a boost to real estate and development.
    Among the most noteworthy projects in the O’Fallon/Shiloh area are the new Memorial Hospital East and HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, along with their accompanying medical office buildings. A new V.A. clinic is breaking ground this fall in Shiloh, and several Class A apartment projects are planned in the area. Additionally, major road widening and improvement projects are making the area more desirable for businesses.
    In the quickly expanding O’Fallon/Shiloh market, Wittenauer and Maloney recently brokered the sale of land to Dewey’s Pizza on Regency Park Drive. That building is currently under construction. The firm is also marketing some sizeable tracts of land, including 12 acres in front of St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, that Wittenauer says will be ideal for restaurants, Class A office buildings, and hotels.
    On Central Park Drive, Wittenauer is marketing 45 contiguous acres of land, and is working with several interested businesses on preleasing a shopping center and a 10,000-square foot retail strip center.
    “Central Park Plaza and Regency Park have been extremely successful,” says Wittenauer. “We are continuing to see a high level of demand from businesses to locate in these two developments.”
    In Collinsville, a Walmart Neighborhood Market on Beltline Road and a Jimmy John’s on Bluff Road have opened for business this year. Site work is also underway on a MotoMart at 159 and Beltline Road. Wittenauer says that his firm is working with a restaurant planning to build next to Jimmy John’s, and that they have additional restaurant and hotel land available on Bluff Road as well.
    As the local market for real estate continues to strengthen, Wittenauer hopes that his business is poised for success right along with it.
    “We hope to take advantage of the strong market and plan to continue to focus our work on the St. Louis and Southwest Illinois region.”