Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 24, 1993 TAG: 9302240069
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
DOWNTOWN'S LOOKING UP
Three companies announced plans Tuesday to move into downtown Roanoke buildings: J.M. Turner & Co. will move its offices from Salem to a building on Church Avenue, J.C. Bradford & Co. will move into the first floor of the Colonial Arms Building and Francis Realtors will shift to the Shenandoah Building.A survey earlier this month said downtown Roanoke's office vacancy rate had hit 23 percent, its highest level in recent years. The survey, conducted for the Society of Office and Industrial Realtors, said the amount of empty office space is expected to rise with next month's consolidation of Dominion Bank's operations into First Union Corp.
Turner's office staff of 25 to 30 will occupy the former Investors Savings Bank branch at 130 West Church Ave. James M. "Jay" Turner Jr., chairman of the general contracting firm, bought the building for $190,000 at the Resolution Trust Co. auction Tuesday night. It will be renovated, he said.
Turner said there are advantages to conducting business downtown. He plans to keep his contracting shop at its Electric Road location. The company was in Roanoke's Crystal Tower in the 1950s before it moved to McClanahan Avenue and then to Salem.
J.C. Bradford, a securities broker, is moving to the former bank building at Jefferson Street and Campbell Avenue to gain "more visibility and presence" at the center of downtown, said Pete Milward, manager of the stock brokerage branch.
Bradford plans to move by April 30 after completion of a renovation. The completed offices will have more wood than metal finish, Milward said.
Twenty brokers will have private offices on the main floor; a conference room and employee lounge will be on the second floor.
The company will use more than 10,000 square feet, slightly more than the 8,000 square feet it occupies at First Campbell Square.
The building has been vacant since last fall, when Crestar Bank closed its branch on the first floor. Norfolk Southern Corp. moved offices out of the Colonial Arms when it opened its own regional headquarters building last year.
T.D. Steele, owner of First Campbell Square, said he has two prospects for the Bradford space on the first floor.
Leasing activity has picked up in recent weeks, Steele said.
Francis Realtors will move into the fifth floor of the Shenandoah Building in about two weeks, said James L. Trinkle, president of the company and owner of the office building. The company's quarters on Kirk Avenue, where it has been since the 1930s, will be offered for lease.