Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

BOCA RATON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sun Capital Partners, Inc. (Sun Capital), a leading private investment firm specializing in leveraged buyouts and investments in market-leading companies, today announced that an affiliate has completed the acquisition of Horizon Services, Inc. (Horizon, or the Company). Wilmington, Delaware-based Horizon Services is the premier residential provider of plumbing, heating and air conditioning services for Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Maryland. Terms of the private transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1987, Horizon Services is the regions largest and most-referred home services company, specializing in heating, air conditioning, plumbing, drain cleaning, and sewer and water line replacement and repair. Horizon is also a leading seller and installer of energy-efficient heating and cooling systems in the mid-Atlantic.

Were eager to leverage our knowledge of the home and business services industry to help grow Horizon Services even further, said Marc Leder, Co-CEO of Sun Capital. Horizons founders and management team have built a great company, and we look forward to working with them to maximize the businesss potential.

Horizon currently operates six locations between Connecticut and Maryland, and manages more than 500 HVAC professionals. The Company has expanded rapidly in recent years, entering new markets organically and through acquisitions, including the acquisition of Hartford, Connecticut-based HARP in May 2016.

Adding value to services companies has been a special focus of Sun Capital over the years, said M. Steven Liff, Senior Managing Director at Sun Capital. We are eager to partner with Horizons management to provide the resources needed for growth, organically and through acquisitions, as well as to offer our expertise in strengthening systems and business processes and enhancing the Companys service offerings.

Horizon has differentiated itself from other HVAC and plumbing businesses through a growth strategy of acquisitions and integrations that have allowed the Company to build its client base across the region.

My partner Mark Aitken and I believe our Company is primed for growth with the right partner and resources. We spent 18 months going through an exhaustive process to find that partner in Sun Capital, said Dave Geiger, Co-President of Horizon Services. Sun Capitals team aligns perfectly with ours, from our vision for customer experience to our view on company culture.

Sun Capital has strong experience in related home and business services sectors through current and recent affiliated portfolio companies including Spectralink, a leading global provider of on-site enterprise mobile communication solutions, and Bundy Refrigeration, a manufacturer and supplier of fluid carrying cooling system components for the domestic refrigeration industry.

SF&P Advisors served as financial advisor to Sun Capital, and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP provided legal counsel. Horizon Services was advised by STS Capital Partners.

About Sun Capital Partners, Inc.

Sun Capital Partners is a global private equity firm focused on identifying companies untapped potential and leveraging its deep operational and financial resources to transform results. Sun Capital is a trusted partner that is recognized for its investment and operational experience, including particular expertise in the consumer products and services, food and beverage, industrial, packaging, chemicals, building products, automotive, restaurant and retail sectors. Since 1995, Sun Capital has invested in more than 340 companies worldwide across a broad range of industries and transaction structures. Sun Capital has offices in Boca Raton, Los Angeles and New York, and affiliates in London, Frankfurt and Shenzhen.

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Affiliate of Sun Capital Partners Acquires HVAC Installation and ... - Business Wire (press release)

Karges-Faulconbridge Inc. drilled 12 geothermal bore wells next to its parking lot, then restored the field to a native prairie area. (Staff photo: Bill Klotz)

The Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies last year celebrated the opening of a 66,777-square-foot addition that included a geothermal exchange system for heating and cooling office space.

Cargill Philanthropies is one of a handful of organizations in Minnesota that have installed geothermal systems over the last few years. Although geothermal exchange systems require a significant upfront investment, the equipment generally lasts for decades and the fuel source, the Earth, costs nothing.

Geothermal exchange systems employ plastic tubing buried in the ground or placed in water to capture the Earths steady temperature by circulating a nontoxic liquid that transfers heat to and from the ground. The liquid passes into heat pumps, which through a refrigeration cycle concentrate heat in winter and cools it in summer.

The system at the Cargill office, 6889 Rowland Road, required drilling more than 140 well bores 250 feet deep to the create a vertical loop connected to heat pumps. The system manages heating and cooling for the new addition while enhancing the performance of the previously existing 28,460-square-foot building, according to Shawn Kinniry, office and facilities manager.

In the 10 months weve been in our expanded building, the system has operated efficiently, effectively, and according to design, he wrote in an email. By design, leveraging the Earths more constant ground temperatures, especially in this region where we have such wide temperature extremes, provides a jump-start of sorts to maintaining appropriate temperatures in the building.

Its an incredible technology, its the technology of the future, said Gary Connett, Great River Energys member and marketing services director. Theres nothing greener, cleaner and more efficient than a heat pump.

Many of the 28 members of Great River Energy, a wholesale electric cooperative, give customers rebates for installing geothermal exchange systems. Within Great Rivers territory, the systems have been installed in 12 schools, a number of churches, civic buildings and a few thousand houses, Connett said.

Karges-Faulconbridge Inc., 670 County Road B W. in St. Paul, worked on the Cargill project and several others involving geothermal systems. The engineering companys own office building has a geothermal exchange system attached to a loop underneath a field next to its parking lot.

The office was a former grocery store built on a site that once served as a city garbage dump, according to Karges-Faulconbridge principal Randy Christenson. Geothermal made sense both as a way to demonstrate the system to clients and to economically manage the office temperature, he said.

Geothermal takes the heat of the Earth, roughly 48 degrees in Minnesota, and uses that as a starting point for temperature control inside buildings. Youre using the Earth, with a constant temperature, for storing heat in the ground in summer and pulling heat back out in winter, he said.

Challenge and opportunity

One challenge facing the geothermal market today is low natural gas prices, he said. Theres little incentive for geothermal heating when a more traditional way, such as natural gas, is so inexpensive. When Christenson worked with the Alexandria school district recently, he suggested its desire for geothermal, while noble and sustainable, would take decades to pay back.

That hasnt been the experience of all geothermal users. The Cargill system should pay off in 13 years, Kinniry said. By comparison, a 112-kilowatt solar array installed at the same time on the new addition will take 80 years to exceed its return on investment, he said.

Theres also the idea that geothermal makes sense when an organization has aggressive sustainability goals. We see this building component as mission-related, Earth-friendly, and sustainable, so monetary payback is again only part of our design story for this design element, he said.

Jeff Beiriger, executive director of the Brooklyn Center-based Minnesota Geothermal Heat Pump Association, said geothermal energy is three to four times more efficient than traditional systems, such as boilers, and reduces energy use from 40 to 70 percent.

For building owners who know they are not leaving for decades such as schools and universities the heavy upfront cost can be paid off over time, Beiriger said. Zoned heating and cooling, which allows users to control temperatures in defined areas of an office or plant, is also simpler to create in a building with a geothermal system, he said.

Low natural gas prices arent the geothermal industrys only challenge. When the U.S. Congress extended tax credits for wind and solar last year, it did not do the same for geothermal. The 30 percent tax credit certainly helped sales, Beiriger said, but future changes to the tax code, depending on what they are, could potentially jump-start the industry again.

Where geothermal works

While geothermal energys upfront cost may not work for every Karges-Faulconbridge client, there are those willing to make the investment to meet sustainability goals. Cargill Philanthropies is one such client, even though its site required a few innovative strategies for the system to work.

The foundation had to drill bores to install piping in a wetland it owns, for example. The city of Eden Prairie and the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District gave their approval for drilling in the wetland, which ended up with 40 percent of the drill bores. The rest surround the perimeter of the new building.

While the bottom line mattered, the organization saw geothermal exchange as a way to have a smaller environmental footprint.

The chance to install a system that is more efficient than conventional heating and cooling systems, and leverages sustainable, Earth-friendly resources, is an opportunity that resonated very strongly with our organizations leaders, Kinniry said.

St. Paul-based Presbyterian Homes & Services installed geothermal heat exchange systems at two senior housing communities.

At Carondelet Village on the campus of the St. Catherine University, the project came about because the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet wanted to make the community an eco-friendly, said John Mehrkens, vice president of development at St. Paul-based Senior Housing Partners, a subsidiary of Presbyterian Homes.

The organization installed geothermal to the three-building Folkestone in the Promenade of Wayzata, 100 Promenade Ave., because the structure rests on pilings. Placing the piping into the concrete pilings added only an incremental cost to the 253-unit senior community, Mehrkens said. Moreover, he felt comfortable that the technology of heat pumps, more commonly used in the South, would be able to handle Minnesota winters.

He added that geothermal makes better financial sense for owners not looking to sell anytime soon.

As a long-term owner of these properties, we have a little different perspective, Mehrkens said. We can look at that return over 30 years rather than five years that might happen if you were developer building a project.

Perhaps the states largest geothermal heat transfer system is at Great Rivers Maple Grove headquarters, 12300 Elm Creek Blvd. The bottom of Arbor Lake, behind the building, holds 36 miles of piping that feeds into 72 heat pumps. It shows the advantages of geothermal heat transfer to cooperative members, Great Rivers Connett said.

Hes a huge fan of the technology. Natural gas prices will eventually rise and make geothermal more attractive, he believes, and more businesses and homeowners will see it as a way to reduce their carbon footprints.

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Sustainable: Organizations warming to geothermal energy - Finance and Commerce

Continental Commercial Vehicles & Aftermarket, a leading aftermarket supplier of OE-engineered aftermarket parts for HVAC and engine cooling, door systems, brake systems, tire pressure monitoring systems, engine management, fuel systems and instrumentation, has expanded its full line of VDO HVAC motors with what the company says is exclusive aftermarket coverage of Subaru blower motors.

The new line addition, PM4114, includes a complete HVAC motor, wheel and housing assembly for 2002-07 Subaru Impreza, WRX and Outback sedans and wagons.

According to Rick Wagner, VDO product manager, This new motor comes from sound field research at the installer level to determine the needs of our professional technician customers. As a result, we were able to determine the HVAC motors most in demand and which features are essential for todays complex automotive heating and cooling systems. Because more and more OE components are installed as modules, the complete VDO HVAC motor assembly makes for an easy and trouble-free replacement. It eliminates the installation guesswork found in other brands and restores like new performance.

All VDO motors incorporate the exact electrical connectors required by the specific vehicle application. No flying leads or wire splicing is required. VDO mounting flanges and ventilation tubes are in the same position and configuration as the factory units, the company adds.

Wagner noted, Our VDO line is built on many years of proven experience and the ability to produce HVAC motors that deliver smooth, quiet and long lasting operation. We do use not universal application motors nor take any other shortcuts that can compromise service life. Our motors are designed to meet the specific performance and cooling requirements of the vehicle.

All VDO motors are made to the same specifications and quality standards as the OE components supplied by Continental to automakers worldwide.

VDO is a trademark of the Continental Corp.

For more information, visit: vdo.com/usa or contact: [emailprotected].

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VDO HVAC Motor Line Expanded With New Applications For Subaru - AftermarketNews.com (AMN)

This regularly-scheduled sponsored Q&A column is written by Eli Tucker, Arlington-based Realtor and Rosslyn resident. Please submit your questions to him via email for response in future columns. Enjoy!

Question: After reading your article two weeks ago about remodeling before selling a property, I was wondering what your thoughts are on remodeling our rental property. Its a 1BR + den a couple blocks from the Virginia Square metro with a perfectly functional bathroom and kitchen, but about 15 years old.

Answer: A couple of weeks ago, I warned about spending money on major remodeling projects before selling your home and you should be equally cautious about making major updates to a rental property. In your case, it doesnt sound like spending $15,000+ remodeling the bathroom and kitchen is a good investment at this time. Here are some of the questions/factors you should consider:

Payback Period

How long will it take to break-even on your remodeling expenses based on projected increase in rent? A moderate remodeling of your bathroom and kitchen is likely to increase the amount you can rent your unit by $150-$200/month (this is case-by-case), meaning your pay-back period is likely 10+ years. Keep in mind that the market value of your updates will depreciate annually and usually at a faster pace under the wear and tear of a rental unit.

Tenant Profile

The ROI of remodeling is heavily based on the type of tenant youre most likely to have. Your tenants will most likely place more value in convenience, affordability, and functionality than they do aesthetics and upgraded finishes/appliances. As the tenant profile shifts towards families and higher-end properties, the ROI of upgrades increases.

Length of Stay

The less time a tenant plans to stay in a property, the less concerned theyll be with updates, but tenants planning to stay for three or more years will consider their rental to be more of a home and place great value in an updated kitchen and bathrooms. As the tenant profile shifts to longer rental periods, the better the ROI on remodeling. In your case, the tenant profile is more likely to stay for 12-24 months, diminishing the value of remodeling.

Tax Write-Offs

According to Joseph Aiken, CPA with Aiken & Company, the current tax code considers any capital expenditures on remodeling to be depreciable assets, meaning you cant write off the cost of your remodeling in the year you spent the money, rather deduct it over a 27.5 year depreciation schedule.

My advice for investing in a rental property is similar to investing in pre-sale improvements. Fresh paint, quality floors, lighting, and a deep clean go a long way on a rental property without breaking the bank and can usually be written off as maintenance expenses on your taxes. Check out IRS Publication 527 for tax details on rental properties.

If youd like a question answered in my weekly column, please send an email to [emailprotected]. To read any of my older posts, visit the blog section of my website at http://www.RealtyDCMetro.com.

Eli Tucker is a licensed Realtor in Virginia, Washington DC, and Maryland with Real Living At Home, 2420 Wilson Blvd #101 Arlington, VA 22201, (202) 518-8781.

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Ask Eli: ROI On Remodeling Your Rental - ARL now

White and gray painted cabinets like those in this kitchen by Winn Design + Build will dominate kitchen color schemes in 2017. Photo by Stacy Zarin-Goldberg

Those looking for kitchen design ideas have a new source of inspiration: the National Kitchen & Bath Associations (NKBA) list of trends for 2017. Local designers reveal which trends are most popular in the Washington, D.C. region.

NKBA predicts that contemporary-styled kitchens will overtake traditional to become the second most popular design after transitional. Locally, Michael Winn, president of Winn Design + Build expects to see a strong move towards transitional and contemporary styles, with no fussy designs.

Homeowners are looking for kitchen spaces that look comfortable, calming and clutter-free, said Shannon Kadwell of Anthony Wilder Design/Build, Inc.

Clean lines, built-in shelving and simple door styles dominate kitchen designs. Megan Padilla, senior designer for Aidan Design reports an interest in custom storage ideas. Were inspired by our work with clients who often have collections of table dcor everything from antique trays to vintage oyster plates, she said. By creating custom storage these cherished items can be readily accessible.

When it comes to painted cabinetry, gray is the new white and the popularity of both colors shows no signs of slowing down, according to the NKBA survey. However, blue painted and high gloss kitchen cabinets are emerging, especially in the Washington area, says Winn. Blues and grays are very popular [and] White continues to be popular.

For overall color schemes, two-toned kitchens are gaining popularity while blue and black are emerging as sought after colors. Were seeing a rise in product offerings available in matte black from appliances to plumbing fixtures to cabinet hardware, said Padilla. We love it paired with white in a classic black and white kitchen, but also as an accent piece. Matte black also pairs beautifully with brass, which has been trending for the past couple of years.

Quartz is the most sought-after kitchen countertop material, followed by granite. Most of our clients arent really interested in a kitchen that [is] too trendy since they plan to have it in place for 15-20 years, said Padilla. Weve seen an uptick in interest in incorporating color by way of alternate neutrals. Navy blue is probably the top choice, but taupes and lighter blues are also on the list.

An interest among homeowners in incorporating technology in kitchen design is increasing as well. About one third of the NKBA professionals surveyed reported recent projects that included wiring and pathways for future tech integration. I would also expect the technology side to be a focus in D.C., said Samantha Klickna, project developer with Case Design/Remodeling, Inc. The ease and comfort of controlling your home while at the office or on travel is very appealing and convenient for the city dweller.

Induction cooktops and convection ovens are trending higher, and microwave drawers are surpassing freestanding or built-in microwaves in popularity. People have been purchasing appliances like steam ovens and induction ovens now more than ever before, said Kadwell. People have less time, but still want to cook. They want to be able to cook quickly, so theyre looking for appliances that can accomplish that.

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Kitchen Design Trends to Expect in 2017 - Virginia Connection Newspapers

Louisville Business First

Norton Commons is getting a new office building Louisville Business First Osborn previously constructed a similar-sized office building at 9418 Norton Commons Blvd. that now has multiple tenants. "We think office is a natural component to add in there," Weinberg said of the building. Tyler Glick, owner of Louisville-based ...

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Norton Commons is getting a new office building - Louisville Business First

Michelle Willard , USA TODAY NETWORK Tennessee Published 9:01 a.m. CT March 7, 2017 | Updated 8 hours ago

A rendering of Fountains at the Gateway. Phase one of Fountains at Gateway is under construction and includes a four-story, 100,000-square-foot office building and the 11,000-square-foot retail building. The office building will be completed in late summer and the retail building by the end of the year.(Photo: Submitted)

More businesses are coming to theFountains at Gateway, developer Scott Graby said Tuesday morning.

Tressler & Associatesand Tressler Title have leased a 1,713-square-foot office space for the firms new Murfreesboro offices on the ground floor of One Fountain Plaza, the recently completed 105,500-square-foot office building at Fountains at Gateway, saidGraby, president of Hearthstone Properties.

Tressler & Associates and Tressler Title and have an excellent reputation in Middle Tennessee, and were delighted to welcome them to Fountains at Gateway, Graby said. As Murfreesboro continues its rapid growth, Tressler & Associates and Tressler Title will help fill the ever-growing need for residential and commercial real estate legal and transaction services in Rutherford County.

Fountains at Gateway is a 31-acre, Class A mixed-use development located at 1500 Medical Center Parkway in Murfreesboro.

Phase one of the development includes a four-story, 105,500-square-foot office building and two retail buildings totaling 33,200 square feet. Office building construction is now complete and site work is nearing completion.

The first retail building, with 11,200-square-feet of space, is under construction and will be completed in spring 2017.

Todd Tressler(Photo: submitted)

Tressler Title joins Burger Republic, Tom+Chee, Fuzzys Taco Shopand Nothing Bundt Cakes in leasing retail space at Fountains at Gateway.Board & Brushopened in January.

"Scott Graby and his team have done a great job assembling an impressive list of brands at Fountains at Gateway,"said Todd Tressler, owner and founder.

Tressler & Associates has served clients since 2009 in many areas of the law, including estate planning, business law, civil and criminal litigation, and real estate.Tressler Title is a full-service real estate closing company offering concierge-level service to the real estate industry.

With shared offices in Lebanon, Mt. Juliet and Nashville, the Tressler Team is expanding its physical presence into Murfreesboro.The firms have established a temporary office at Heritage Executive Suites in Murfreesboro until their new offices at Fountains are completed this summer.

While the Tressler Team has been an active part of the vibrant business scene in Murfreesboro for several years, we're looking forward to serving new and existing clients from the heart of the Gateway business district for years to come," Tressler said.

Developed byHearthstone Properties, the $80 million development will include 400,000 square feet of office space in three office buildings, 70,000 square feet of retail in three free-standing buildings and street-level retail space in the office buildings, as well as a 100-unit apartment community and a mid-size business hotel.

Reach Michelle Willard at mwillard@dnj.com or 615-278-5164 and on Twitter @michwillard.

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Tressler & Associates, Tressler Title lease space at Fountains at Gateway - The Daily News Journal

Sabriya Rice, The Dallas Morning News

A vibrant and robust economy is spurring the building and expansion of hospitals and medical office buildings in Texas.

At $15.8 billion, the Lone Star State has the second-largest pipeline for medical real estate in the nation, according to medical real estate data firm Revista, which recently released its annual health care construction analysis evaluating projects underway in 2017.

"There is a lot of construction and demographic growth in general in Texas, and health care real estate goes along with that," said author, Mike Hargrave. "It's a vibrant economy."

Other researchers have come to similar conclusions.

Providers say the billions invested over the past five years in new facilities and patient towers is necessary to remain competitive, especially in areas of significant population growth, according to a separate health market review for Texas released at the end of 2016.

"The primary (strategy) is seeking to expand the geographic reach of the hospital systems into developing areas with high household incomes and rich health benefits," said that report, authored by independent analyst, Allan Baumgarten.

The new data from Revista focuses on approved and funded projects that exceed $5 million in value. The analysts identified a total of 114 hospitals and medical office buildings under construction in Texas that met the criteria.

In North Texas, there were 36 in the pipeline, valued at an estimated $7.9 billion total.

They include the $125 million luxury Women's Hospital that Medical City Dallas is planning for 2018, UT Southwestern Medical Center's $66 million radiation oncology treatment center scheduled to open in March and Texas Health's medical campus in Frisco being planned for 2019.

As for other areas of the state, there were 31 in the Houston area, valued at about $3.8 billion, and eight in or around Austin valued at $503 million.

Revista collects the data for its report from multiple sources, including company announcements, public records and bond filings. Texas was second to California, which has $16.4 billion in medical real estate projects in the works for this year.

However, there are concerns that hospital capacity is increasing at time when inpatient care is being described as flat or falling, other market reports have said.

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Texas' $15.8 billion medical construction pipeline is second in the ... - Chron.com

Ten months after the Union-Tribune moved downtown, its former building in Mission Valley has undergone a radical transformation on the way to becoming a 330,000-square-foot creative office center.

Called Ampersand, the two-building complex at Interstate 8 and state Route 163 has been gutted, its presses scrapped. Construction is moving forward this month with completion of the first phase early next year.

Carlos Carrasquillo, studio director of Wolcott Architecture Interiors in Culver City, is the designer and C.W. Driver is the contractor of the $35 million project.

Its a very visible building that everyone in San Diego seems to been touched by, said developer Casey Brown. Personally, I toured the facility when I was in the third grade, which is kind of fun. My grandparents used to bring me down to get end rolls of paper to color on. Being born and raised in San Diego, those are my experiences. The experiences that we hear are just ongoing.

The first phase involves the five-story office building on the east. With the newspaper offices interior walls, ceiling tiles and carpet removed, exterior light floods in from all directions.The exposed concrete ceiling waffle pattern and duct system will remain in view to create the cool, industrial look that appeals to young upstart companies.

The second phase, tracking about 90 days after the first, will transform the three-floor printing plant building into a U-shaped complex with 14-foot-high windows and a dramatic north-facing open-air courtyard cut out of the center. Former loading docks will become outdoor terraces and a full-scale, 8,000-square-foot gym, showers and locker rooms will be built on the southeast corner.

Other amenities will include a craft coffee cafe, valet parking, concierge services and possibly a restaurant in the former gas station and vehicle maintenance building at the southwest corner of the site.

The entrance will shift from the north to a pedestrian courtyard between the two buildings and a former outdoor cafe deck will become The Treehouse with hanging chairs and hammocks around a specimen ficus tree. There will be nine patios and 64,000 square feet of outdoor collaborative space and an amphitheater for multifunction gatherings.

A third phase will include a 130-unit apartment building on the north side of the property but its timing is flexible, depending on market conditions with several other residential projects coming online in the next couple of years.

Matt Carlson, senior vice president at CBRE brokerage, said his leasing team is fielding calls from potential tenants from all over the county who want a central location but not necessarily in downtown. He said they are asking about renting spaces from 20,000 square feet to the entire print building.

A lot of these creative-type tenants are the more collaborative type, Carlson said. They are looking for brick and timber, a different office experience.

That old-style industrial legacy is rather limited in San Diego, considering that the entire county population in 1940 totaled only about 300,000, less than a tenth of todays count.

Built in 1973, the U-T building, designed by Frank L. Hope Jr.s architectural firm and built by M.H. Golden Construction, was all brick on the outside and concrete on the inside. The print building is as strong as a bomb shelter, Carlson said, because it had to take the load of the presses and other equipment.

Theres just nothing like it, he said. Not only is it perfectly located and has a large block of space, theres not a lot of new (office) construction. Its totally unique compared to any other offering thats out there.

Casey said the project is being developed in the shadow of many others throughout Mission Valley.

The biggest, of course, is the potential redevelopment of the Qualcomm Stadium site into a soccer-driven, mixed-use complex.

But major plans already are approved for transforming the Riverwalk Golf Course into housing and Westfield has indicated long-term interest in adding residential and other uses at its Mission Valley mall.

Civita is building out its 4,780-unit housing project with some retail and office and a major public park between SR163 and Interstate 805.

Brown has been active in downtown development but sees Mission Valley as a land of opportunity as well.

We think there will be more room to run here than in most of the other markets, he said. Its been passed over.

He acknowledged that traffic can be a problem at rush hour and winter rains can cause isolating flooding. But he said the Ampersand location has escaped relatively unscathed and the residential uses planned around it will generate less traffic than the offices currently in place.

Carlson said tenants employees will like the easy access to the trolley lines and bike and walking trails along the San Diego River. Its the same story for other in-town neighborhoods that surround the central business district.

People are living and working in those areas because its easier than being in Carmel Valley, he said.

roger.showley@sduniontribune.com; (619) 293-1286; Twitter: @rogershowley

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Creative offices reuse old UT building - The San Diego Union-Tribune

EMC Insurance Cos. cut the ribbon on its four-story office addition at Eighth and Walnut streets. Joel Aschbrenner/The Register

EMC Insurance Cos. on Tuesday, March 7, 2017, opened its four-story office addition in downtown Des Moines.(Photo: Joel Aschbrenner/The Register)Buy Photo

EMC Insurance Cos. on Tuesday opened the doors to its new four-story office at Eighth and Walnut streets in downtown Des Moines.

The $40 million building, which broke ground in 2014, houses common space for EMCs 1,300 downtown employees, including a gym, an auditorium, training rooms, printing facilities, an art gallery, event space and storage. Italso includes 6,000 square feet of street-level retail space available for lease.

Gov. Terry Branstad, Mayor Frank Cownie, EMC CEO Bruce Kelley and other dignitaries toured the office Tuesday, taking in the new building smell, weaving through the exercise equipment, looking at the artwork hanging throughout the facility and stopping in the auditorium to watch a time-lapse video of the building's construction.

While many employers moved to the western suburbs in recent decades, EMC decided to invest in downtown, said board chairman David Proctor.The companys 20-story tower next doorwill celebrate its 20th anniversary this year.

Were still here," Proctor said. "And why are we here? Because of our commitment to the state of Iowa and more specifically to the city of Des Moines."

With the buildings completion, a skywalk bridge over Eighth Street between Walnut and Mulberry streets has reopened. The bridge provides a connection between Wells Fargos downtown campus and the rest of the skywalk network.

The building was designed byBrooks Borg Skiles Architecture Engineering and constructed by Neumann Brothers.

It has been one of several construction zones along Walnut Street. Opposite the office, the former Younkers building (now called the Wilkins Building)is being renovated into apartments, and a 33-story apartment tower is proposed on the lot at Seventh and Walnut streetswhere half of the Younkers building was destroyed in a 2014 fire.

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Walnut Street will remain closed to vehicles between Seventh and Eighth streets while the Wilkins Building and the apartment tower are under construction. The city plans to reopen the sidewalk on the south side of the street to pedestrians this spring or summer, said city traffic engineer Jennifer McCoy.

The new office was not without controversy. EMC demolished a row of century-old buildings to make room for the office, irking preservation advocates. Company officials said the buildings did not serve EMCs need for more employee amenities.

We have a commitment to historic preservation, but we also needed this building for modern uses, Kelley said.

EMC razed the Robertson and Foster buildings, plus an annex, at Walnut and Eighth streets in Des Moines to make way for a new four-story building that would house conference space, storage and an employee gym. Preservationists said the buildings, constructed by one of Des Moines earliest architects, were worth saving.(Photo: Rodney White/The Register)

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$40 million office opens in downtown Des Moines - DesMoinesRegister.com