After 46 years at the James S. Black building, we moved offices mid-November of this year. As one can imagine after that much time this move was a huge deal for our company. Moving can be a large task for anybody, whether you’re moving houses, a retail location, or a small or big office. There are many items that need to be taken care of and usually in a timely matter. We have created this checklist to share a little piece of our move story as well as hopefully spark some thoughts on what you may need if you are planning a big move anytime soon.

1. Find an architect and a contractor that you trust.

If you plan on remodeling like we did, the first thing you need to do is figure out how you would like to configure your new space. Luckily, being in the commercial real estate industry we have formed relationships with multiple companies that we like to use. We chose to use Shane Mercier, with Mercier Architecture & Planning, to help design the layout of our new space, and we used Michael Galles with Construction Associates of Spokane as our contractor. Both did a wonderful job at converting our ideas into a reality.

2. Figure out offices for employees (and brokers in our case).

Sometimes this can prove to be a difficult task, especially when you have a lot of employees. Finding a place where everyone will work well is a crucial aspect of any office, and it also brings comfort to your staff when they know that they will have a nice new “home” to work.

3. Figure out any new parking.

Many buildings located in the peripherals of cities have parking, but this can be a tougher task when you work in the downtown area. Will you need to find new parking garages for your staff? Are they going to be parking somewhere they feel safe walking the distance to work? How might parking prices change? Luckily, we didn’t move to far so most of our employees didn’t have to worry about new parking. However, we wanted to assure our brokers and our property managers that they would have a wonderful parking space with easy access in and out of our new building.

4. Fine tune your move schedule.

Moving a large office takes a village and making sure that everyone is on the same page and the right people are delegated the right tasks is a crucial part of moving. First, we had to make sure that everyone knew when they needed their offices packed up. We hired Contract Design Associates to take down our cubes and put them back up in our new space. We used Spokane Pro Movers to move all of our furniture. Then some of our amazing staff helped to move all of the computers and our IT transferred the network and our phones over. These were no small tasks and thanks to our Executive Team we were able to carry them out smoothly.

5. Time to get organized!

When you get all of your furniture in, it’s time to tie down final details. Hanging pictures, arranging furniture, organizing break rooms and supply cabinets, making sure everyone has all the furniture and file cabinets they need and any lighting they may need to adjust. There are numerous details in moving offices and it is an ongoing process, but the goal is an end result that lasts for many years to come.

This was a historical move for our company and it is hard to put into one single blog post all of the details and moving parts that went into this venture. We are so grateful for all of the hard work each and every person that was involved with this project put in. Come visit us at 801 W. Riverside, Suites 300 & 400, and check out our new digs!