On Q Financial is moving next month to a bigger space in a new office building, company officials said this week.
Relocating to The Offices at Airlie, at Military Cutoff Road and Wrightsville Avenue, will give the residential mortgage company room to expand and a highly visible sign on the heavily traveled Military Cutoff corridor.
"We're really focused on growing our brand and identity in the local community," said Melanie Welsh, vice president of business development for On Q in Wilmington.
Located on the first floor of The Offices at Airlie, On Q's new space is 5,100 square feet, compared to the 1,700 square feet the company is vacating at the Offices at Mayfaire II, 6781 Parker Farm Drive. As a result, broker Steve Hall of Maus, Warwick, Matthews & Co. is helping to recruit a new tenant for the Mayfaire space, Hall said this week.
In addition to being bigger, On Q's new office will have a layout tailored to the company's needs, said Trent Reed, who is also vice president of business development along with being vice president of sales for On Q.
"Instead of having the same old, and what I call 'stale', office atmosphere, it's going to be an atmosphere that's really thriving with energy and cohesiveness with the team," Reed said.
A large space in the middle of the new office will allow On Q to bring its referral partners, which include Realtors, builders and financial advisors, into the location for meetings and events, such as educational classes and seminars, happy hours and networking that On Q will host, Reed said.
"It's more of an open-air cafe, and it's got a very large, granite island [and] high-top bar stools. It's going to be just very inviting," he said.
Reed said that will also serve as an amenity for On Q employees, which include eight licensed mortgage brokers in the Wilmington office, who are already treated to things like Taco Tuesdays and Massage Mondays.
"It's something that we as a company want to offer back to the employees to give them a quick mental break. It takes them away from the work in hopes that it just brings that stress level down a notch or two," Reed said.
Breaks are important, he said, especially as the Wilmington housing market continues to grow steadily.
"We're the busiest we've ever been. Every month this year thus far. . .we've continued to break records," Reed said.
The Offices at Airlie developer Steve Anderson said all of the space in the new, 20,000-square-foot office building has either been sold or is under contract. He said the work done by McKinley Building Corp. and Freeman Landscaping helped make a big difference on what was a challenging site to build on.
"It really did turn out I think nicely. So I'm not surprised that we're out of inventory," Anderson said.
