New HQ positions Zimmerman companies for growth

Photo courtesy Green Circle Projects LLC

The companies relocated from the Southgate Shopping Center.

The family of companies under the Zimmerman Corporate LLC umbrella are now operating in a new headquarters that’s “sized for future growth,” according to one of the companies’ top executives.

Bob Davidson, chief financial officer and chief operating officer for Zimmerman Properties LLC, Zimmerman Properties Construction LLC and Wilhoit Properties Inc., said the relocation to 1329 E. Lark St. created a space with room to grow. City building permits put the approximate development cost at $4 million.

“We sized the corporate office so we could probably comfortably hold 120-130 employees,” he said, noting no hiring plans are currently in the works. “It’s just more opportunistic as the company continues to grow. It goes with the economy and the opportunities that we find.”

Davidson said the family of companies outgrew their leased space at Green Circle Projects LLC’s Southgate Shopping Center, 2144 E. Republic Road, about five years ago. Since “almost everything we do on our properties runs through our corporate office,” Davidson said the new campus’ flow and space — compared with tight working quarters inside Southgate — are more efficient for some 90 corporate employees.

From the new headquarters, Zimmerman employees manage $50 million in annual revenue, mostly made through the apartment-building Zimmerman Properties Construction business, and assets in 17 states, Davidson said. The companies’ portfolio comprises around 15,000 rental units housing 40,000 residents.

The Zimmerman companies moved into the Lark Street campus on July 13, said Office Manager Pamela Gertz. A ribbon-cutting and grand opening ceremony for the nearly 32,000-square-foot campus is scheduled Oct. 12.

Base Construction & Management LLC started building the new corporate offices in summer 2017, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. Buxton Kubik Dodd Design Collective was the project architect.