The Jacksonville Area has a bright future says the head of a major Central Illinois real estate and property management group. David Plake, President and C.E.O. of The Garrison Group in Springfield says roughly two years ago they were contacted by a local broker who was helping a client with his second building purchase on the downtown square.
Rabbi Rob and Lauren Thomas wanted to find an entity to help develop and manage their new projects and partnered with Garrison Group soon after. The partnership has led to several projects on the downtown square and beyond for the company.
After developing multiple projects over the last two years, Plake says he thinks that Jacksonville is a fantastic place to do business. “And I tell my family this and I tell everybody in other communities, if Jacksonville were a stock that you were considering investing in, I think Warren Buffett would be throwing his money in Jacksonville.
And I say that because I’ve been in Central Illinois frankly my whole life. So I’ve watched Jacksonville, and what I’ve watched is I think I’m seeing the beginning of a rebirth, or maybe even beyond that.”
Plake says his experience working with the city and organizational stakeholders as a whole, working in Jacksonville is unlike any other municipality Garrison Group has done business with. “From the city, the support of the municipality, Brian Nyberg and his team, and the creativity of the economic development group..
The welcome from the Chamber of Commerce, Jacksonville Main Street- oh my goodness, it has been fantastic! This is a group of people that I don’t know that they have the word no in their vocabulary. The answer is- oh, well let’s come up with a solution for that.
I feel like we’ve got partners who want to help us create solutions for what frankly other municipalities is simply a no. That’s why I think Jacksonville is going to do some great things.”
Plake says as the level of work and number of projects is increasing in the Jacksonville area, some exciting developments are currently happening in their first two downtown projects with the Thomas’s. “In the old Sears building, the Andre & Andre Building, the first tenant will be moving in the next few days. Literally, in the upcoming days, it’s going to be so exciting. We’re accepting bids right now for the build-out of the apartments. So there will be fourteen apartments going into the upper two floors of that property.
The two apartments above Pizza Records in the Kresge Building, those will be ready to go to lease on April the second. And just, it is exciting, it’s’ so exciting to be a part of.”
Garrison Group provides commercial real estate sales, property management, and build-out coordination throughout Central Illinois and beyond.
Continued work on the downtown projects, as well as existing property management clients in the Jacksonville and Quincy areas, Garrison Group has planted roots in the area by opening a branch office in Jacksonville located in the former Gustine Building at 229 South Main Street.