Jay
01-20-2005, 10:06 PM
Area's construction has residential style
By Richard Mize
The Oklahoman
From home-style offices on the west to a Home Depot on the east, construction around Quail Springs Mall has a decidedly residential flair.
North Pointe Office Park, with about 20 office buildings under development by Chris Sanders, is filling empty space on the west side of May Avenue north of Memorial Road. Buildings will range from 2,000 square feet to 8,000 square feet.
Sanders said he is building the residential-styled space — the buildings look like houses, not office buildings — both to lease and to sell. Some of the space is speculative, but he said he will build to suit.
One building is complete, housing Sanders' own business, Sanders Development Corp., and tenants DC Energy Inc. and EngATech Inc.
Sanders bought the 7-acre development property last year from Tom Parker, whose Jackson Development built The Shoppes at North Pointe, a retail center straddling NW 138 just to the east of North Pointe fronting May.
East of the mall, the Home Depot, under construction by Glenn Johnson Construction out of Chicago, isn't quite out of the ground, but massive amounts of red dirt are on the move on the north side of NW 140 west of Pennsylvania Avenue.
With big trucks and earth movers coming and going, the entire stretch of land north of the mall from Pennsylvania Avenue to May Avenue looks to be hopping.
Realty experts, however, said Atlanta-based Home Depot appears to have a short-term lease for a temporary road, which keeps the big machinery out of heavy shopper traffic around the mall. Repeated attempts to reach Home Depot spokesmen in Chicago, where its central regional office is located, were unsuccessful.
Sanders said the Home Depot will give him one more selling point for his home-style offices.
"Anybody who offices here can get anything they need within a square mile," said Sanders, a home builder who is shifting to commercial construction and development. His father, Jay Sanders, also built homes and did some commercial work. His grandfather, Leo, was also in construction here.
And, Sanders said, people working in his offices can get something they can't get in traditional office settings: the feel of home.
"It's real popular right now," Sanders said. "A lot of the small businesses like a residential look. I think it makes a real good-looking consistent park. If you did a more commercial park, you'd have a wider variety on what people want. You'd get the one guy who wants a pink elephant.
"Every building doesn't have to be identical, but you don't have to worry about somebody coming in and doing something extreme."
The office park, like most well-thought-out neighborhoods, has covenants and restrictions to guide architecture as well as conduct — no abandoned cars allowed, for example.
Sanders recently developed and built Fairview Farm Office Park, 10 buildings on 4 acres near NW 150 and Western Avenue. That park also has a residential style.
The trend shows no signs of waning, said Ford Price, co-managing partner of Price Edwards & Co. and an office specialist. Residential-style offices meet the needs of certain kinds of businesses, he said.
The other main trend at work in North Pointe Office Park — small businesses taking advantage of low interest rates to buy their own space and get out of lease arrangements — also will remain strong for certain kinds of businesses, Sanders said, as long as loan rates remain low.
Otherwise, any business planning on significant expansion that would require more space might find a small, residential-style building too restrictive, Sanders said.
Sanders is betting his office park will attract business owners who want to own their property.
And, Sanders said, with the Home Depot eventually augmenting retail stores in Quail Springs Mall, and with so many new restaurants along Memorial east and west of the mall, potential office occupants, whether owners or tenants, are probably watching as his office construction continues.
"One of the best advantages we have right here for businesses is all the restaurants," Sanders said in his own office in the park.
"If I wanted to meet a customer, I could meet them at a restaurant or meet them here and take them to a restaurant."
By Richard Mize
The Oklahoman
From home-style offices on the west to a Home Depot on the east, construction around Quail Springs Mall has a decidedly residential flair.
North Pointe Office Park, with about 20 office buildings under development by Chris Sanders, is filling empty space on the west side of May Avenue north of Memorial Road. Buildings will range from 2,000 square feet to 8,000 square feet.
Sanders said he is building the residential-styled space — the buildings look like houses, not office buildings — both to lease and to sell. Some of the space is speculative, but he said he will build to suit.
One building is complete, housing Sanders' own business, Sanders Development Corp., and tenants DC Energy Inc. and EngATech Inc.
Sanders bought the 7-acre development property last year from Tom Parker, whose Jackson Development built The Shoppes at North Pointe, a retail center straddling NW 138 just to the east of North Pointe fronting May.
East of the mall, the Home Depot, under construction by Glenn Johnson Construction out of Chicago, isn't quite out of the ground, but massive amounts of red dirt are on the move on the north side of NW 140 west of Pennsylvania Avenue.
With big trucks and earth movers coming and going, the entire stretch of land north of the mall from Pennsylvania Avenue to May Avenue looks to be hopping.
Realty experts, however, said Atlanta-based Home Depot appears to have a short-term lease for a temporary road, which keeps the big machinery out of heavy shopper traffic around the mall. Repeated attempts to reach Home Depot spokesmen in Chicago, where its central regional office is located, were unsuccessful.
Sanders said the Home Depot will give him one more selling point for his home-style offices.
"Anybody who offices here can get anything they need within a square mile," said Sanders, a home builder who is shifting to commercial construction and development. His father, Jay Sanders, also built homes and did some commercial work. His grandfather, Leo, was also in construction here.
And, Sanders said, people working in his offices can get something they can't get in traditional office settings: the feel of home.
"It's real popular right now," Sanders said. "A lot of the small businesses like a residential look. I think it makes a real good-looking consistent park. If you did a more commercial park, you'd have a wider variety on what people want. You'd get the one guy who wants a pink elephant.
"Every building doesn't have to be identical, but you don't have to worry about somebody coming in and doing something extreme."
The office park, like most well-thought-out neighborhoods, has covenants and restrictions to guide architecture as well as conduct — no abandoned cars allowed, for example.
Sanders recently developed and built Fairview Farm Office Park, 10 buildings on 4 acres near NW 150 and Western Avenue. That park also has a residential style.
The trend shows no signs of waning, said Ford Price, co-managing partner of Price Edwards & Co. and an office specialist. Residential-style offices meet the needs of certain kinds of businesses, he said.
The other main trend at work in North Pointe Office Park — small businesses taking advantage of low interest rates to buy their own space and get out of lease arrangements — also will remain strong for certain kinds of businesses, Sanders said, as long as loan rates remain low.
Otherwise, any business planning on significant expansion that would require more space might find a small, residential-style building too restrictive, Sanders said.
Sanders is betting his office park will attract business owners who want to own their property.
And, Sanders said, with the Home Depot eventually augmenting retail stores in Quail Springs Mall, and with so many new restaurants along Memorial east and west of the mall, potential office occupants, whether owners or tenants, are probably watching as his office construction continues.
"One of the best advantages we have right here for businesses is all the restaurants," Sanders said in his own office in the park.
"If I wanted to meet a customer, I could meet them at a restaurant or meet them here and take them to a restaurant."