ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, February 8, 1996             TAG: 9602080049
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: C-8  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER 

FORMER SIDNEY'S BUILDING LEASED BROKERAGE FIRM TAKES FIRST FLOOR, WITH LOTS OF ROOM FOR GROWTH

The ground floor of the former Sidney's building at 501 S. Jefferson St. has been leased to Interstate/Johnson Lane.

The stock brokerage firm, which opened in Roanoke last summer, plans to move into its new Roanoke offices by August. It currently occupies space in the First Campbell Square Building at Campbell Avenue and First Street Southwest.

The multiyear lease for the 5,000-square-foot space was negotiated on behalf of the building's owners by Michael M. Waldvogel of Waldvogel, Poe & Cronk Real Estate Group Inc. of Roanoke. Financial terms of the lease were not revealed.

Waldvogel said construction will begin in the next few weeks. He said the building will be completely remodeled. New windows will be added on the Luck Avenue side of the building as well as on the second floor, he said.

Waldvogel said the ground floor will have space for close to a dozen brokers for future expansion of Interstate/Johnson Lane.

The company currently has a staff of four brokers in its Roanoke office.

The old Sidney's building was purchased in December 1994 by Lawyers Offices, a limited liability corporation composed of Roanoke lawyers Roy V. Creasy, Eugene M. Elliott Jr. and John R. Patterson.

All of them practice in Roanoke and have separate offices in the First Union Building on South Jefferson Street. Waldvogel said the owners have not yet decided whether they will move their law practices to the second floor of the remodeled building.

Anticipating future use of the second floor, however, they will create an interior office shell on the second floor. Floor space also will be reserved along the Jefferson Street side of the building for an elevator lobby.

Waldvogel said additional space in the building is available for lease to other businesses.

Interstate/Johnson Lane is a regional full-service brokerage with headquarters in Charlotte, N.C. The company has 59 retail offices in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. It employs more than 1,100 people.

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