SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Neighbors in University Heights continue to push back against a proposed development at the corner of National Avenue and Sunshine Street.
Now the developer, Ralph Duda with BK&M, says all the opposition caused Springfield to miss out on potentially getting a Trader Joe’s grocery store, as representatives for the chain were put off by all the controversy when they visited the site.
“I worked for about three months to get Trader Joe’s to add Springfield, Missouri to their expansion city list,” Duda said at a city council meeting. “They added us. They did a site visit. We were in negotiations. When they did the site visit, they came down and saw all the signs that said ‘save our homes.’ They backed out.”
However, people living in University Heights aren’t so sure.
“It makes me wonder if that’s really true,” said Springfield resident Jeff Carney. “Honestly, I think Trader Joe’s would be very happy here. The whole community of Springfield would like to see it.”
As president of the University Heights Neighborhood Association, Carney says a majority of residents want single-family homes in the empty lot on National and Sunshine.