It was easy to decide to move our office. Our lease was coming due. We had been here for 12 years. An upgrade of our surroundings was in order. Rents were very attractive.
Time’s up! It’s time to pack up and move now. Yikes!
The process to get to where we are in this process was about six-months in the making:
SEARCH – First we needed to see what was out there. Our very patient, organized, and connected agent, Rich Ellsworth, showed us what was out there. We narrowed our search to a couple of neighborhoods and scheduled a tour. Rich was ready! He had a booklet for us with a separate tab outlining each property, complete with pictures, layouts of the various suites, and descriptions of amenities. He had the selling agents meeting us at each property. It was very well synchronized. I was exhausted by lunchtime! We took a break, and then caught a second wind for the afternoon trek. Whew.
DECIDE – We went back to view a couple of the “finalists”. Rich worked with us to go over the pros and cons of each and then requested a formal proposal from two of the properties including lease terms, price per foot, rentable vs. actual, guarantees, deposits. Sleep on it. Okay…the decision is made to go with 1545 River Park Drive!
The cooperation and kindness of Graeme Coyle and the Hines property management team helped us understand we had made the right decision.
LEASE – Pensions involve a lot of “legalese”, but reviewing the office lease was eye-numbing! Thank goodness for my attorney, Regina Schroder, for using her fine-toothed comb. I read the lease, but focused on Regina’s recommendations. After a round or two, the lease was finalized.
DESIGN – The Hines people introduced us to their architect, Dick Nielsen, who was a delight. He had experience with the building, listened to what we wanted, and was able to put together a floor plan design for us that needed very little modification. I had to sign off on the design as part of the lease. Two dimensions sure are different than real space! Dick, I’ll have to take your word for it that everything will work out okay!
SPACE PLANNING – Thank goodness for our friends (and client) MTA. Rachael Bennett and Regina Washington worked their magic by helping us design our new space. We wanted an upgrade, and boy oh boy did we get it! They helped us create spacious and efficient work stations, a welcoming and warm reception area, a state-of-the-art conference room, and sleek executive offices.
PHONES AND WIRING – I knew phones had become more sophisticated in recent years, but all the terminology, options and hosted versus in-house systems really had my head spinning. Thank goodness my tennis friend Martin Thornros (and phone consultant) helped us design our new system. I’m not sure I understood much of what Martin had to say about the various options, but he assured me the phones would work when I pick them up to dial. Another tennis connection, coach Alex Agurto, worked on the wiring for the phones and computers. I didn’t know he knew as much about cabling as he does about backhands!
CONSTRUCTION – What a stroke of luck that Hines granted the construction contract to Market One Builders – also a client of ours! Lance and his team worked up a schedule, coordinated all the subs and got the space put together in record time. He even had a vacation in the midst of the activity. I couldn’t be happier with the fine job that they did – on time and on budget.
WALK-THROUGH – Details, details, details. Luckily for me, our office manager and self-described construction watchdog Kim Hanson monitored the progress of the construction and made sure things were dealt with before the walkthrough. Her assistance allowed me to be nearly hands-off the entire time. On the day of the walkthrough I wandered through the nearly-finished space and looked for things to put on our punch list, but found very few items Kim, the contractor, or the property management team hadn’t already put on their lists.
EMPLOYEE INTRODUCTION – We had been talking about the new office for several months and had shown the employees the “board” MTA put together with samples of the finishes and furnishings, but there was a lot of anxiety about seeing it firsthand. Timing was difficult, though, since we were in the final throes of calendar year tax filings up until Monday, October 17th. On Tuesday, October 18th, Kim took the staff on a field trip to the nearly-completed office. They all came back buzzing with excitement! While adjusting to a new workspace after ten-plus years is difficult for people who are naturally averse to change, I heard the words “professional”, “calming”, “modern”, “state-of-art” and “sweet!”
PACKING UP – The moving company, Bekins, has this process down to a science! They brought us plastic packing bins, dollies, library carts, computer bags, and labels to make packing about as easy as it can be. We’re scanning and shredding what we can in advance, and the big move is this Friday, October 21st.
REWIRING – Ryan Sharpe, our resident IT genius, seems very excited about the new server room, cabling, and improved internet speeds we will be getting at the new suite. He’s so happy about it that he’s volunteered to work over the weekend after the Friday night move to ensure our network and phones are up and running Monday morning when we check into the new office. Thank you, Ryan! You can sleep in next week.
In the end, it was easy to decide to move. The actual act of moving has been quite an effort, and wouldn’t have been possible without the help of fabulous consultants, friends, and my staff. Thank you to all of them! In the end, it’s all about making the BRI work environment as comfortable as possible. Happy employees deliver the type of superior service our clients have come to enjoy year after year, and the new office should only enhance our ability to serve our customers.
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