OEC renovating former Michael’s Furniture in Boise
by Brad Carlson
Published: June 3,2010
Time posted: 12:00 pm
Tags: City of Boise, Erstad Architects, Michael's Furniture, Office Environment
Office Environment Co. plans to renovate and occupy the former Michael’s Furniture store in downtown Boise. Pictured from left are: Operations Manager Mike Garcia, Design Manager Christy Camenisch, Sales Manager Claudia Day and OEC owner Jason Galloway. Photo by Carlson/IBR.
Office Environment Co. plans to renovate and occupy the downtown Boise property that for many years was home to Michael’s Furniture Showplace, which went out of business recently.
Jason Galloway last year acquired Office Environment – known as OEC – from Rick Ogle. Galloway and Ogle recently acquired the former Michael’s property out of foreclosure. The property includes a main building and two smaller buildings. Galloway in the fourth quarter plans to move OEC from smaller leased space at 1605 W. Fairview Ave. downtown.
Major remodeling plans for the main building at 623 Americana call for removing part of the second floor inside to create “an open showroom feel,” Galloway said. This part of the project will reduce usable square footage from about 34,000 to 20,000, he said.
Other elements of the project include an interior remodel, exterior upgrades to give the building a facelift and bring in more natural light from the Americana side of the building, electrical and HVAC upgrades, window replacements and various other improvements to make the building more environmentally friendly, he said.
A “working showroom,” where employees will occupy the showroom floor, will be one result of the remodel, Galloway said. The project also will convert existing sales-floor space to warehouse space, where OEC will store items and base the third-party logistics service that it offers to clients, he said. From 3,000 to 6,000 square feet of space fronting Americana will be marketed for lease.
“Our company felt it very important to be in the downtown Boise area,” Galloway said, adding “we are really making a statement that we are committed to downtown, where we work with architects and designers in the community.”
The project involves Boise firms Erstad Architects and Vertical Construction.
He would not give a cost estimate, on June 1 saying a renovation budget and financing were being finalized. Galloway and Ogle completed the property acquisition, at what they believe was a “fair value” that will enable them to complete an extensive rehab with costs that make sense from a tenants’ perspective, Galloway said.
OEC provides furniture systems and solutions. The 23-year-old company is the area’s exclusive dealer of Steelcase products. Galloway has been adding people to the staff, which now numbers 25.
Health care, education and government have been the strongest segments lately, though a trend toward businesses moving their offices – to take advantage of lower rents whether they are expanding or down-sizing – has kept OEC busy on its recently expanded service side, he said. Services include relocating furniture and workstation panels from one office to another, cleaning, and optimizing space usage.
Furniture buying is a lagging economic indicator, and Galloway expects a bit of a recovery next year, he said.
“We are starting to see an up-tick with companies that want to grow again,” Galloway said.
His background is in finance, accounting and real estate. He remains a principal in Hawkins Capital, a unit of Boise-based regional real estate developer Hawkins Cos. The Idaho Business Review is a tenant of the downtown Boise building that Hawkins Cos. owns, occupies and manages.
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