In the realm of commercial real estate, picturing what the future holds isn’t impossible.

It’s one of the services offered by a company founded in Wilmington in 2006, using virtual renderings to re-envision commercial spaces.

“We have the ability to deliver a professional vision for vacant commercial space that then creates a dialogue on what the client truly wants after they sign the lease or buy that property,” said Brian Millen, vice president and director of business development for Commercial Interiors. 

Focused solely on commercial projects, the company is an interior design and space planning firm and contract furniture dealership of Kimball products. Millen and his wife, Heather, president and director of interior design, are two of the company’s founders.

A downtown store is one example of a project for which the company used virtual renderings. At first, the concepts offered by Commercial Interiors in partnership with John Hinnant, a broker with Maus, Warwick, Matthews & Co., were intended for a potential grocery store and farmers market concept in the former Self Help building at the corner of North Front and Grace streets. 

Commercial Interiors eventually reconfigured the virtual renderings to reflect a vision for Outdoor Equipped, a successful online outdoor footwear and clothing company that in 2014 opened its first storefront in the 272 N. Front St. building. 

The original five-floor building that now houses Outdoor Equipped was completed in 1907 to serve as a wholesale dry goods firm, according to the City of Wilmington’s website. Two stories were added in 1921, and then it became Efird’s department store, which closed in 1975. It was used as a filming set for Dawson’s Creek and then One Tree Hill for
14 years.

“The challenge in that building was we had to maintain some of the original features in the space because of its historic designation,” Brian Millen said.

Although based in Wilmington, Commercial Interiors also works with clients throughout the U.S. When the nation’s most recent economic downturn hit North Carolina’s economy, the firm was able to weather the storm by working for Rush Health Systems based in Meridian, Mississippi.

“We were their lead interior design firm, and then basically we managed, furnished and installed their hospitals, multiple clinics over a two-year period, and we still continue to support them,” Brian Millen said.

Among the company’s recent Wilmington projects, Commercial Interiors completed the interior design for and furnished the new headquarters of banking software firm nCino at 6770 Parker Farm Drive. The company moved last year from midtown Wilmington to the Mayfaire-area location, occupying about 40,000 square feet on two floors in the former Wachovia bank building.  

Currently, Commercial Interiors is working on interior design, space planning, furnishing and finishes for Vertex Railcar Corp. at 202 Raleigh St.

Of the company’s virtual renderings, Millen said he prefers the term “test-fits” to “commercial staging” in describing what his company does because staging in the traditional sense is mainly a tool used in residential real estate. 

He said the renderings create a more professional presentation to promote Commercial Interiors’ capabilities as well as those of commercial properties that are available for sale or lease in the region. 

“Our designs typically don’t look residential at all. The quality of the products that go into a commercial space are at a much higher durability factor,” Brian Millen said. “They’re actually meant for 24/7 use, equivalent to a health care waiting room.”

In addition to Hinnant, Commercial Interiors works with commercial real estate brokers at many of the largest firms in Wilmington. 

“I think the local brokers value us as a service to give them an upper hand in trying to market some of the vacant commercial spaces,” Millen said.

Lynn Harris, a commercial broker with Century 21 Sweyer & Associates, said collaborating with other professionals when she is representing a shell space, like those referred to by Brian Millen, is helpful when courting potential lessees or buyers. 

Harris said she recently listed a 3,300-square-foot property at 5114 Wrightsville Ave. that fits the bill. The building has been gutted so a new occupant can have the interior built to exact specifications, Harris said in a recent email.

“It’s very hard for prospects to visualize what the completed ‘office’ can look like,” said Harris, adding that she has received some conceptual designs from an architect showing a three-tenant concept and is adding one of Commercial Interiors’ test-fits to provide another alternative.  

“Services like this are invaluable to me as an agent – and to my customers,” Harris said.

Brian Millen said another benefit of the designs is that potential investors outside the area see them.

“We’re also using it as an economic development recruitment tool because our designs are being seen all over the county by people who would actually consider Wilmington as a destination for their business expansions,” he said.

With offices at 6400 Carolina Beach Road, Commercial Interiors has six full-time employees. Millen said the company partners have expanded to include project management director Candice Gurganus and design director Justin Nixon.

“Our goal is to grow our business,” Brian Millen said, “and everything we do locally and across the country is part of our way of supporting the local economy as a small business.”