A technology services and communications company that had planned to move into an historic downtown Wilmington building will not be making the change for now, a company official said Thursday.
Earlier this year, Leland-based CloudWyze announced that company's leaders had signed a lease for the first two floors of the 11-story Murchison Building, 201 N. Front St., expecting to occupy the space, after some renovations and modernizations, by the second quarter of 2015.
That plan fell through, said CloudWyze co-founder Shaun Olsen, as a result of issues on the side of the building's owner, Murchison Group LLC. Those issues could be resolved at some point, Olsen said, leaving the potential for CloudWyze to consider leasing the space at a future date.
Chris Camann, the current managing member of Murchison Group LLC who is based in California, said he had no comment on the matter Thursday evening.
Olsen said that if other discussions work out, CloudWyze wants to move into a different downtown space in the short term by the first of next year.
"We're having discussions with people, with building owners and property owners, already on that," he said.
CloudWyze would have occupied about 10,000 square feet in the Murchison Building, a brick-and-marble structure completed more than 100 years ago. In the long term, Olsen said CloudWyze still plans to lease enough space that the company can offer to other growing tech-oriented companies. Sixteen offices for other companies had been included in the firm's Murchison plan, each of which could have been used by one to three employees.
Itself a growing company, CloudWyze has expanded into an additional 1,500 square feet in the firm's current office building in Leland, located in the Waterford office and retail complex, Olsen said.
Without CloudWyze, the Murchison Building is currently about 70 percent leased, with new tenants expected to be on the way, said Lesha Williams, the building's property manager. Tenants include an office for U.S. Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Solomon Wellness & Hypnosis Center, attorneys and Old North State Trust, among many others.
