A very old building in the heart of downtown Davenport will soon be the home of two very modern companies.
Terrostar and Medix Dental - which do online marketing and IT and technology support for the dental industry, respectively - are moving into the former Schneff Jeweler s and First Trust and Savings Building at the corner of Third and Brady streets. Tom Terronez, who owns both companies, says he hopes to have the 20-plus member staff moved into the renovated third floor of the nearly century old building by the end of 2014.
"A lot of stuff is happening in downtown Davenport, and being a tech-based business, we wanted something that fits our personality," he said. "We love the historic building and we love being close to the action going on. My staff is very young and they want to be near the restaurants, bars and other things going on."
The companies are currently housed on a couple different floors in their Bettendorf building on Utica Ridge Road, and Terronez plans to add five new employees in the current year. Being out of room, and wanting to consolidate operations, are another reason for the move, he said.
There is quite a bit of work to do to convert the former administration offices of Palmer College of Chiropractic into a tech-savvy, open design workspace. Although the high ceilings and bright windows remain, pretty much everything else will be updated and renovated, Terronez said.
The building's owner - TR Holdings - has plans to create second floor apartments and first floor retail and loft space - but there is not a firm construction timeline at this point, said a company spokesman. Work will also include some facade cleanup on the building that was erected in 1918.
Terronez said his project should fit in nicely with recently announced plans Eastern Iowa Community College's new "urban campus" in the renovated bank buildings across 3rd Street. He hopes to bring in interns from both the college and from the Davenport School District's Creative Arts Academy.
"The long-term vision is to have downtown Davenport be a tech and education corridor," he said.
