A 90 year-old employer in the area is planning to officially make the move from a business park in Salina to Downtown Syracuse by next June. Haylor, Freyer and Coon decided on the One Park Place Building at 300 South State Street. The insurance company adds to the growing list of businesses investing into the city.
CEO James Freyer thinks his employees will appreciate the new headquarters and all the city has to offer.
“What intrigued us about downtown is you see businesses moving there, individuals moving there, restaurants, the activities of downtown. And we look at our current employees but, just as important are our recruitment of the new talent. So, we’re looking for younger people, have hired many younger people and we believe that not only our existing employees want this environment but, our future employees will value this environment. And when they’re making a decision… well we want to work here or here, we think this can be a change and this can help us be as competitive, if not more competitive.”
He explains their current headquarters in Salina limits employees to staying for the workday and then heading home when they’re done. He feels they’ll now have ‘after work options’ that can be a win-win for the city.
“I think downtown just bring an area where you might stay that evening, you might go to a festival or whatever might be going on… whether it’s winter or summer.”
The 37,000 square foot space by King and King Architects will move a third of the offices away from windows and closer to a centralized location to allow for more natural outside light to filter into the entire workspace.
”Whether you’re in a workstation or an office, you have that light, you can see the outside. We’re doing different ceiling heights, a beautiful cafeteria, we’re using a lot of glass for doorways and things of that nature.”
Freyer says 130 employees will make the move to downtown and the company has secured parking at a city-owned garage nearby.
