Archive for Monday, November 14, 2011
New owner, new tenant on way to historic downtown bank building
Workers remove items from the Commerce Bank branch at Johnson Drive and Nieman Road on May 6. Commerce Bank closed the branch May 6, leaving an uncertain future for the building, a downtown Shawnee keystone since the early 1900s.
After sitting vacant for six months, the former bank building in the center of downtown Shawnee has a new owner and at least one new tenant on the way.
City Council member Dan Pflumm bought the building and plans to move his business, DanCo Systems Inc., from its current home at 11503 W. 75th St. into the historic downtown spot at Johnson Drive and Nieman Road.
Pflumm said DanCo would utilize about one-third of the space and that he was looking for tenants to lease the other two-thirds. The building’s current configuration is best suited for office space, he said, but a coffee shop and a restaurant are among the businesses that have inquired about moving in.
For Pflumm, the purchase was inspired in part by business reasons and in larger part by his commitment to the city — where his family’s roots run deep. Specifically, his grandfather, father and uncle owned stock in the Shawnee State Bank, and Pflumm said he remembered being in the building frequently as a child.
“I just wanted to invest back in Shawnee,” Pflumm said.
The original part of the building was constructed in 1909 as the Shawnee State Bank. The final expansion took place in 1971, when black glass with aluminum framing was applied to the skin of the building. Beneath that glass, some original stone remains in place.
Pflumm said he doesn’t currently have plans to change the outside of the building but that he hoped to renovate the interior to expose at least some of the building’s original stone walls.
Commerce Bank, which bought out Shawnee State Bank in the 1990s, closed its Johnson Drive and Nieman Road branch May 6.
A year earlier, Kevin Tubbesing was considering purchasing the building, redeveloping it and leasing it to mixed-use tenants. After lukewarm response, he decided to pitch the building for sale rather than embarking on risky upfront development.
At Monday’s City Council meeting, Shawnee resident Ray Erlichman thanked Pflumm for buying the building and said he was happy to see him bringing more business back to downtown Shawnee.
Mayor Jeff Meyers also wished Pflumm good luck with the endeavor.
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