Pictured is the front of 11 South, a new medical office building off Sand Bank Road. Workers put the finishing touches on concrete work and are installing windows so drywall can begin to go up inside the building. (Andrea Saathoff photo)

Developer Joe Koppeis attended Monday’s Columbia City Council meeting and presented an update on his new medical office building to be known as 11 South.

After the council approved two variances allowing the developer to construct monument-style signs larger than the boundaries set in the city’s sign ordinance, as is common for large buildings within city limits, Koppeis updated council members on the nearly 60,000-square-foot building being constructed on the north end of town.

“It’s 82 percent leased,” Koppeis said, noting he just signed on a pediatrician and an ear, nose and throat doctor as tenants.

Koppeis added that he is close to reaching an agreement with a large medical group based in St. Louis.

“I think we’re going to be able to provide any medical service needed,” Koppeis said.

The current building, estimated at up to $12 million, is one of several buildings that are eventually planned for the site.

“It’s all coming together very well,” Koppeis said.

He plans for the first two floors to be completed in January 2017, and said work will continue on the upper floors while tenants are operating on the first two. He also said the third floor is almost entirely leased. The building will have five floors in all.

“It’s exceeding my expectations,” he said.

And although he’s seeing major success, Koppeis has his sights set still higher.
“I really am pushing for a hospital,” he said. “I think we need one in our community.”

The construction manager for the project is Korte & Luitjohan Contractors. Primary tenants include offices affiliated with Progressive Family Care and ATI Physical Therapy.

Also at the meeting, city engineer Chris Smith spoke about the city’s appeal of new FEMA flood maps that include a large swath of city land around Palmer Creek.

The city will have the area analyzed by specialists to see if they concur with the new flood maps and submit a new study to FEMA with the hope of getting the maps changed back.

“We’ll let (FEMA) know we don’t agree and start the process,” Smith said.

Just getting a second opinion that supports the city’s side doesn’t guarantee FEMA will see reason and make the change — and that could spell disaster for the portions of the city affected.

“I have some insureds in the bottom that are in a grandfathered protection class…,” said Columbia Mayor Kevin Hutchinson, who works in the insurance field. “They’re (in) …mild flood hazard areas… Grandfathered, they’re paying about $3,000 a year on a $350,000 building with $500,000 worth of contents. If they weren’t grandfathered, that’s about a $25,000 premium. So it doesn’t go up two or three times. Some of these areas are going up seven, eight, nine times.

“We have to be very diligent about fighting these maps and making sure they’re as accurate as possible,” Hutchinson said. “Because this will effectively stop any and all growth, because you cannot afford to pay those kind of premiums.”