Historic Gem in Fredericton Prepares for Refresh and New Tenants
Fredericton’s Ross Ventures is refreshing a building they’ve owned for 30 plus years in order to offer a modern workplace in a historic structure.
Argyle Place, located on 364 Argyle Street in downtown Fredericton, will be undergoing a revitalization inside and out.
“It’s such an interesting building. Our company has a long history of buying older properties with a lot of potential and bringing out the charm in them,” says Amy Ross, managing director at Ross Ventures, the company that owns and manages the building. “We think there’s a demand for office space downtown that is new and fresh, yet unique and has the amenities and services required of business today and expected in our community, such as onsite parking.”
The iconic three-story office building was originally built as a boot factory in the early 1900s. In the 1970’s, it was the home of several radio stations until the mid-1980’s when it became the home for government offices.
After many years as the sole tenants, the provincial government will be moving to a property it owns. Ross Ventures saw it as the perfect opportunity to make some lasting improvements. The company plans to be sensitive to the site’s history and preserve the historic fabric of the building while demonstrating beautiful and well-designed possibilities for future tenants.
“We’ve felt fortunate to have the provincial government as a tenant in this building for so many years but given the vacancy, we’re excited to take the opportunity to revitalize it,” says Ross. “As a landlord, the appearance of our buildings is very important to us and we take pride in making improvements. We see this as one of a few important differentiators we offer as a local family business.”
Ross says the building’s office spaces can be redesigned to suit a variety of tenants.
“Like most office space in the last 30 years, the current footprint is made up of enclosed offices and cubicles, which may be perfect for some prospective tenant needs but others may be looking for more of an open concept option,” says Ross. “When the building is vacated in December, the common space of the building will be redone, but we will most likely wait to complete the office space until we find out who is going to occupy it and tailor it to their specific needs.”
Having worked with many tenants in recent years on renovations Ross Ventures has come to understand the significance both beauty and function play in contemporary office space design. Aesthetics are important in workplace culture, and in setting the right tone and mood for productivity. An imaginative space can be key for creativity and innovation.
That’s why the company has hired Lyn Van Tassel of LVT Design to redesign the lobby and offer concepts for the office space. She says her vision is a workplace that is modern, bright, open, and with an industrial feel. Her design renderings include highlighting Argyle Place’s original brick and woodwork.
A hundred years ago this part of Fredericton was the hub for footwear manufacturing. It has evolved over the years, recently seeing a revitalization and growth in residential and commercial real estate.
“It’s a historical building with some interesting history, so our approach is to modernize it a little bit using some of the elements that are there and maintaining some of those elements,” says Van Tassel. For example, the exterior will highlight the history of the building with new signage with the “Palmer-McLellan boot factory established in 1912” on it.
Van Tassel says the lobby and common area will be redesigned to be both functional and visually pleasing.
“We provide a spot where they could have a quick chat and a coffee instead of just a pass-through,” says Van Tassel. “Maybe put a cool light in there and a neat little seating area someone would use one day, or when someone was waiting for someone, it wouldn’t be so bad to sit there. It’s a really interesting building.”
Check out the renderings of LVT Design’s concepts below:
Ross says they’ve had significant interest in the property and are in discussions with a wide range of businesses.
“We’ve talked with a range of prospects from those in the medical field, financial firms and growing startups. It will likely be a mix, but it could be one organization that has significant space needs and finding that much space in downtown Fredericton with onsite parking is rare,” she says. “The whole building is 30,000 square feet, so it could be one company or it could be five or six. We hope to find like-minded organizations that will complement each other and the building and the neighbourhood.”
Ross Ventures is the same company responsible for 140 Carleton, the city’s newest and most architecturally innovative commercial development scheduled to begin construction this fall.
“We enjoy the creative side of business,” says Ross. “And working on design changes to Argyle, the oldest property in our portfolio, while simultaneously developing 140, has been satisfying”.
This is a sponsored story from Ross Ventures.