van Wagenen’s clients are providers of auto loan and lease, consumer loan and lease, and commercial and residential mortgages. They provide solutions to help these companies mitigate risk, provide claims solutions, and manage complex loan portfolios with their proprietary technology. They came to us with basic needs, but complex challenges. They wanted to relocate and expand their office and call centers within the same area of Eden Prairie. They had selected the current location specifically for the demographic of their employees, and future hires, as they have a moderately high turnover. Also, the workplace had expanded in small steps and the space turned out to be expansive, cumbersome, and inefficient. Now, they were growing fast, and their current building was running out of space.
We examined 3 properties with them, providing fit planning and construction cost estimating for each location. I had developed plans in the same buildings, for other clients, while working at another firm. I understood the properties, so we were extremely efficient in plan development and they made a choice in two weeks. Superior Office Center was selected partly based upon its architecture as each wing could easily house divisions that needed adjacency, while providing appropriate separation to adhere to regulations set forth by their clients. A highly secure mailroom was also required, and it had to have a separate entrance from both the outside and inside. This function ended up on the exterior glass, so film was applied to the existing windows the meet visual privacy requirements.
Available parking and restrooms were also deciding factors that supported this site selection. They needed to have enough parking stalls and be on a direct bus route, which is not that easy to achieve in Eden Prairie. They though that the restroom need was cut and dry as the current configurations met required code. As we examined their staff, and demographic by sex, we advised them otherwise. Although they meet code, we suggested that the population would be happier if they expanded the existing women’s facilities. After presenting numerous options they agreed that doubling capacity, to elevate lines, would be well worth the cost.
Although the client was elated with the finished product, their growth continued, and the original 50,000 SF buildout was completely occupied. So, as the paint was still drying, we started on a 25,000 SF expansion to take the remainder of the building.
