“We just can’t fit anymore into it,” Barry said of the current Dayton office. “We’ve renovated our building twice and we just can’t shoehorn anyone else in there right now. It’s just too small.”
The family-owned company has purchased nearly two-acres across the street from the Tech Town business park and plans to constuct a 13,000 square-foot building.
“It’s going to look like it would fit in with the Tech Town building,” Barry said. “It will be a lot of glass and aluminum on the outside.”
He added that the building will be mainly one floor, but there will be a mezzanine with a couple of offices.
There are also plans to have a community meeting room, which will seat at least 80 and be free for public use. “One of the things that I have heard is that there is really is not a good spot with ample parking downtown where people can just pull up and meet.”
The idea of a 100-space parking lot was one of the reasons why Barry said he wanted to move to the new site, which currently houses an old warehouse. BarryStaff plans to demolish the structure within the next two months. Construction on the new building will begin immediately after the demolition.
The construction and demolition costs make up the $1.5 million project.
Another plus is that the new site is close to Interstate 75 and Fifth Third Field.
“We’re just hoping that we can draw some people downtown,” Barry said.
BarryStaff, which has been in business since 1980, has been located downtown since 1982 and has been at the Jefferson Street location since 2001.
“We’ve just grown out of our space. I’ve looked at several buildings downtown and we just couldn’t find something that fit what we needed,” Barry said.
BarryStaff currently has 17 employees at the Dayton office and the new building will allow the company to eventually increase employment.
Amy Walbridge, Special Projects administrator for the city of Dayton said city staff have been working with BarryStaff since January to find a suitable location.
“We’re really happy that they are activating a vacant piece of ground on Monument Avenue,” Walbridge said.
She added that, Barry is a huge proponent of downtown and the BarryStaff move highlights the fact that Dayton is the center of the Miami Valley Region.
“He sees the viability in Dayton and how much that will serve the success of his business,” Walbridge said. “His clients come from all over the region. So him being in the center of the region gives him easy access to his clients and helps his business environment.”
About the Author