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Dake Wells expands into KC with new office

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Dake Wells Architecture Inc. is starting the new year off with a bit of a growth spurt, as the Springfield-based firm has opened a Kansas City office.

The firm initially announced Jan. 13 via social media its expansion into the Kansas City market, with two new employees, Dan Maginn and Josh Hemberger, added to the company staff.

Andrew Wells, who co-owns the firm with business partner Brandon Dake, said this morning Maginn and Hemberger were hired earlier this month to run the Kansas City office. Maginn is the office director, with Hemberger brought on as a project architect.

“We’re really looking forward to being connected in the Kansas City community via our firm’s history here,” Wells said of the Springfield firm that was formed in 2004.

Wells said the firm will eventually seek to add more staff to the Kansas City office, though he was uncertain when. Dake Wells now employs 18, with 16 working in its downtown Springfield office.

Wells said he and Dake had been discussing expanding into other markets off and on over the past couple of years, with the Kansas City plan formulating around last September. He said they’ve known Maginn, who has worked in the Kansas City market since 1989, for about 10 years and admired his work. Wells said Maginn’s three decades of experience in the industry include founding Kansas City-based architecture firm El Dorado Inc.

“The opportunity emerged as [Maginn] was looking for different opportunities,” Wells said. “We were looking for different markets and the planets aligned.”

The new Dake Wells office is in downtown Kansas City’s Corrigan Station, in co-working space provided by New York-based WeWork, Wells said, declining to disclose startup costs. However, he noted using the co-working space, which allows for shared usage of a conference room, meeting space and a lounge area, will keep startup costs “really low.”

As it works in a new market for the first time in its 15-year history, the firm has no additional markets in the crosshairs, Wells said.

“We’re not actively seeking out another location. We’ll have our hands full with this for now,” he said.

While declining to disclose 2018 revenue for the company, Wells said Dake Wells has been “extremely busy.”

“We had a lot of work last year and a lot for this year,” he said.

Among the firm’s past projects is the Glass Hall renovation and Carrington Hall auditorium, both at Missouri State University, as well as for Andy’s Frozen Custard and the Missouri Department of Conservation, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

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