Event center proposed for Shoppes area

By Chris Fortune

The remaining portion of a lot where a hotel is being built near the Shoppes at North Village is being proposed as an event center.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Stein and Summers Real Estate announced the proposal as a 25,000- to 30,000-square-foot building that can accommodate more than 400 people. The intention is to complement the hotels and restaurants in the area.

In a press release, Raymond Sisson, Berkshire Hathaway’s director of commercial services, said he has spoken with community representatives, including the county commission and Chamber of Commerce.

“Companies that host large meetings now take their meetings to Kansas City or Omaha just to find enough space,” he said. “That is a loss for St. Joseph that we need to seek a way to remedy. It will take a community-wide effort to get this off the ground, but with the location just off the interstate, and the hotels and restaurants already in the area, this just seems like the right time and the right place.”

The lot is just north of Jack Horner’s Machinery-Contractors and east of Ricky Dean’s. A My Space hotel also is being developed on the space.

In addition, a Hilton hotel has already begun construction just north of this site, on Village Drive and North Pointe Road, across from the YMCA.

Sisson said more food services still are needed within walking distance of hotels in the area and the proposed event center.