The building at 1111 E. Main St. (Courtesy of CBRE)
A local law firm is getting some extra legroom downtown.
Sands Anderson is expanding its office in the Bank of America Center to accommodate its growing ranks.
The firm last week signed a lease on 5,800 additional square feet on the building’s 22nd floor. That will give it a total of almost 39,000 square feet on the 22nd, 23rd and 24th floors of the 26-story tower at 1111 E. Main St.
“Our practices seem to be growing,” said Ben Emerson, managing partner at Sands Anderson.
“On balance, we’re adding attorneys. If we add very many more people, we’d be completely out of space, and we don’t want to be in that position.”
The firm has 150 total employees, including 70 attorneys. It has smaller offices in Northern Virginia, Fredericksburg, Christiansburg and Raleigh, but the bulk of its headcount is in Richmond.
Work will be done to refurbish the floor’s outer offices and gut the inner offices, Emerson said.
“We’re improving it, and we expect it to be finished in a couple of months,” he said. The building’s landlord will cover the costs of the renovations.
The 545,000-square-foot property is owned by Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors, a Connecticut-based real estate investment firm. It is managed by CBRE | Richmond.
Sands Anderson moved into the building four years ago from Wytestone Plaza at Eighth and Main streets. Its space in the Bank of America building was previously occupied by Troutman Sanders, which moved to a new office in Riverside on the James.
Sands Anderson is the latest law firm to reinforce its commitment to being in the downtown office scene: McGuireWoods has its new Gateway Plaza tower underway at Eighth and Cary streets, and Hunton & Williams in March struck a deal to stay at Riverfront Plaza, where it will downsize from 310,000 square feet to 257,400 square feet.
Troutman Sanders in July renewed its lease for 100,000 square feet in Riverside on the James.
Sands Anderson’s growth comes at a time when the traditional business model of massive law firms has been brought into question because economic weakness.
Emerson said Sands Anderson’s focus on its niches of government, insurance and midsize businesses has paid off.
“Our market just seems to be growing,” he said. “People are looking for good lawyers with reasonable rates, and they seem to be calling.”
Emerson would not share any revenue figures for the firm.
“Revenues are growing because our attorneys are growing and practices are growing,” he said.
CBRE | Richmond brokers Malcolm Randolph and Scott Durham handle the leasing of the Bank of America building. The company said 70,000 square feet are available for lease.
The building at 1111 E. Main St. (Courtesy of CBRE)
A local law firm is getting some extra legroom downtown.
Sands Anderson is expanding its office in the Bank of America Center to accommodate its growing ranks.
The firm last week signed a lease on 5,800 additional square feet on the building’s 22nd floor. That will give it a total of almost 39,000 square feet on the 22nd, 23rd and 24th floors of the 26-story tower at 1111 E. Main St.
“Our practices seem to be growing,” said Ben Emerson, managing partner at Sands Anderson.
“On balance, we’re adding attorneys. If we add very many more people, we’d be completely out of space, and we don’t want to be in that position.”
The firm has 150 total employees, including 70 attorneys. It has smaller offices in Northern Virginia, Fredericksburg, Christiansburg and Raleigh, but the bulk of its headcount is in Richmond.
Work will be done to refurbish the floor’s outer offices and gut the inner offices, Emerson said.
“We’re improving it, and we expect it to be finished in a couple of months,” he said. The building’s landlord will cover the costs of the renovations.
The 545,000-square-foot property is owned by Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors, a Connecticut-based real estate investment firm. It is managed by CBRE | Richmond.
Sands Anderson moved into the building four years ago from Wytestone Plaza at Eighth and Main streets. Its space in the Bank of America building was previously occupied by Troutman Sanders, which moved to a new office in Riverside on the James.
Sands Anderson is the latest law firm to reinforce its commitment to being in the downtown office scene: McGuireWoods has its new Gateway Plaza tower underway at Eighth and Cary streets, and Hunton & Williams in March struck a deal to stay at Riverfront Plaza, where it will downsize from 310,000 square feet to 257,400 square feet.
Troutman Sanders in July renewed its lease for 100,000 square feet in Riverside on the James.
Sands Anderson’s growth comes at a time when the traditional business model of massive law firms has been brought into question because economic weakness.
Emerson said Sands Anderson’s focus on its niches of government, insurance and midsize businesses has paid off.
“Our market just seems to be growing,” he said. “People are looking for good lawyers with reasonable rates, and they seem to be calling.”
Emerson would not share any revenue figures for the firm.
“Revenues are growing because our attorneys are growing and practices are growing,” he said.
CBRE | Richmond brokers Malcolm Randolph and Scott Durham handle the leasing of the Bank of America building. The company said 70,000 square feet are available for lease.