Not Just for Foot Traffic

Many business owners think the old adage of “location, location, location” applies primarily to businesses that need foot traffic, but the building in which any business is located can be a key element of branding.

“Business owners and managers spend a lot of time choosing their location so they don’t make a costly mistake,” said Ron Tappan, broker/manager for CJR Commercial Group, a real estate agency that helps businesses find the right location.  

Tappan said cost, size and demographics typically are at the top of the list when business owners are choosing a new location.

A nontraditional look
Deborah Malkmus, managing partner with Malkmus Law Firm, looked for the right location to move her six-year old civil trial practice, located in a 5,600-square-foot space on the eighth floor of the Great Southern Bank building at 430 South Ave.

Malkmus wanted to stay in the downtown area, but said it was hard finding a building that fit 13 attorneys and staff members. The firm also shares space with another practice, Asperger Law.

Eventually, however, Malkmus found just what she was looking for at 305 Park Central West, just off Park Central Square.  

“This space came on the market 14 months ago and it really spoke to us,” Malkmus said. “We felt it really had potential and our architect agreed.”

Malkmus Law Firm purchased the 7,200-square-foot space for roughly $275,000 from the Fleet Reserve Association and is preparing to move into the renovated space with plans to open on Oct. 4.

Malkmus said the move allows the firm to have a building associated with its own name and street-level visibility.

“We’re not a traditional law firm … and wanted to show ourselves as innovative, dynamic and thinking outside of the box,” Malkmus said.

Jack Ball & Associates Architects PC designed the space for a contemporary feel that’s not at all reminiscent of more traditional law firms, she said.

The open space features stainless steel, high ceilings, new modern furniture and state-of-the-art technology. Springfield Builders Inc. was the general contractor, and the office was renovated to meet the needs of the firm in a little more than a year for about $500,000.

“Our architect had a real vision for the space and encouraged us to take the opportunity to really brand the firm,” Malkmus said. “We even developed a new logo.”

Public perceptions
Legal Services of Southern Missouri is using its November move as an opportunity to rebrand and launch an online public relations campaign to educate the public about its services, said Executive Director Douglas Kays.

Legal Services will move to a new, 11,000-square-foot location at 809 N. Campbell Ave., from its current space at 2872 S. Meadowbrook Ave.

The organization serves low-income clients, but the southern location is too far from the courthouses for its attorneys and inconvenient for some clients to visit. Plus, there isn’t enough room for all staff members at the Meadowbrook site.

In addition to 17 staff housed in the 4,700-square-foot Meadowbrook space, four attorneys work from a separate, 2,000-square-foot office downtown.

“The new building will allow us to house both offices and give us a little growing room,” Kays said.  

He noted that when Legal Services began looking for lease space big enough and close to the courthouse, leaders were unable to find the right fit at the right cost.

As a result, the organization decided to purchase 1 acre of a vacant 3-acre lot on North Campbell for $275,000 and build a new building for $1.2 million.

“When we looked at mortgage payments versus lease payments, it is about the same,” Kays said.

Casey Architecture designed the space and Morelock-Ross is the general contractor.

Kays said another benefit the new space will offer is a conference room that’s large enough to host Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association meetings and to conduct continuing education.

“The bar helps us to recruit volunteer attorneys, and the better relations we maintain, the better it is for us,” he said.

The décor of the new building will be understated, but that’s intentional, Kays said. That’s partly because Legal Services is a nonprofit that receives some federal and state support, and Kays said the group needs to be judicious with taxpayer money. But it’s also because of the organization’s client demographic.

“Even if we could (have) lavish decor, our clients are low income and if it felt too extravagant, it may make them feel uncomfortable,” he said.

When tradition works
Sometimes, traditional is key in choosing a location, as it was with SignalPoint Asset Management, a money management firm that recently relocated to 400 South Ave. from a historic home at 1201 E. Walnut St.

SignalPoint Managing Director Skip Motsenbocker said in July that clients seem to like to come into a building with some history, so the downtown location was a good fit.

For retailers, such as Steve Johnson, owner of the teen-targeted resale shop Plato’s Closet, choosing a location comes down to looking for areas ripe with other retail shops.

Johnson had outgrown his 3,000-square-foot space in Primrose Market Place, and when he couldn’t find a perfect available space, he bought a site at 1258 E. Battlefield Road for about $800,000 and is building a 9,100-square-foot building for $750,000.

The space also will allow Johnson to open a second store, Clothes Mentor, which applies the resale concept to women’s clothing.

While Johnson describes his stores as destination shopping venues, he said it’s better to be in a prime retail area.

“The main factor for choosing this location was to be near the regional mall and have enough room for growth,” he said.

He hopes to move Oct. 10 to the new building, which was designed by Butler, Rosenbury & Partners Inc. and built by general contractor Wirt-Flavin Construction Co.[[In-content Ad]]