In the lobby area of the new state-of-the-art Crye-Leike, Realtors Hixson branch office, Jennie Jett, right, office administrator, talks with Realtors working in the new Hixson office, from left, Ed Richards, Mike Cowan, Marilyn Carver and Barbara Ashby. Click on photo to enlarge.
photo by Irby Park
Crye-Leike, Realtors has moved into a new $1.6 million state-of-the-art facility built by the company on Highway 153 to expand business operations of its Hixson branch office
Crye-Leike’s new Hixson office is located at 5870 Highway 153, which is just north of Oak Park Town Center near Grubb Road and one block from the new Wal-Mart Super Center.
Harold E. Crye, chief executive officer and co-founder of Crye-Leike, Realtors, developed the 2.75-acre site into a 13,290 square foot, one-story retail center. Crye-Leike will occupy 7,500 square feet of that space.
The company-owned center also houses the brokerage’s title company, Realty Title & Escrow Co., Inc. as well as its affiliated mortgage company, 1st Trust Bank for Savings, to provide one-stop shopping for their associates and customers to help in getting to closings more efficiently, said Mr Crye.
The remaining 4,590 sq. ft. within Crye-Leike’s retail center is planned for retail-sized users and is available for lease from 1,500 sq. ft. For leasing information on this property, contact Ron Renegar, commercial manager of Crye-Leike Commercial & Property Management at 423/892-1515.
“This new location gives us excellent exposure in an area experiencing steady growth and development, particularly because of the widening of Highway 153,” said Mr. Crye. “Additionally, the move has allowed greater opportunities for Crye-Leike to serve the real estate needs of this growing Hixson community by expanding our Hixson sales force to 68 sales associates.”
Crye-Leike’s Hixson branch office serves the real estate needs of buyers and sellers in Bradley, Hamilton and Sequatchie counties. Its sales associates specialize in single-family homes, commercial, relocation, first-time homebuyers, lots and land as well as foreclosures, said Kathy Tucker, its managing broker.
Crye-Leike’s Hixson office moved from its cramped quarters at 104 Northgate Commercial Center, a location they have maintained since December 1997 when Crye-Leike acquired Huffaker, Realtors.
“We were busting at the seams at our old location; we had more agents than we had room for,” said Ms. Tucker. The move provided 33 percent more office space, including more private office space, “which is a valuable asset in recruiting more top producers for our sales team,” she said.
“Real estate market conditions are good and people seeking a career change are favoring real estate,” Tucker continued who also is president of the Chattanooga Association of Realtors. “We know that because membership is at an all time high at the Chattanooga Association of Realtors, gaining ground over the last few years from a membership of 1,000 to almost 1,400.”
Crye-Leike’s new facility utilizes “smart technology,” said Ms. Tucker. “By far, the most sophisticated high tech real estate space in the Hixson area. Every Crye-Leike agent becomes easily accessible through our company’s advanced voice messaging system and every work space in our new building is designed to accommodate the needs of our independent agents who are tech savvy.”
All of Crye-Leike’s agent offices, desks and workstations have computer accessibility to the Internet, high speed DSL. Agents can bring their own personal computers or Palm Pilots, or utilize the firm’s own personal computers. A network card allows the agents’ personal computers to blend with the Crye-Leike system, interacting with the company’s Intranet and Internet.
Along with the convenience of being open seven days a week for its customers, Crye-Leike’s Hixson office also offers the real estate community the convenience of using its appointment center, the only one of its kind in the area that captures every potential showing opportunity.
Crye-Leike’s appointment center is staffed and equipped to handle receiving a sales call from any real estate agent in the area who wants to show a Crye-Leike property and is able to coordinate those showings for the agent from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. each day of the week. Crye-Leike's centralized appointment center receives an average of 1,500 calls daily. Crye-Leike properties for sale span 40 cities within Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas and Georgia.
The Strauss Company, Inc. of Chattanooga served as the general contractor and Billingsley Architecture of Chattanooga was the architect. March Adams & Associates, Inc. was the civil engineer, with the site work completed by Shelton Construction. Financing for the project was provided by Capitol Bank of Ft. Oglethorpe, Ga.
Crye-Leike (www.crye-leike.com), a full service real estate company for 27 years, is the nation’s 10th largest real estate company. It has a network of over 2,800 sales associates and 74 branch and franchise offices located in 40 counties throughout a six-state southern region in Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia, Kentucky and Florida.
Crye-Leike of Chattanooga, Inc. has nine branch offices and nine franchise offices in 14 counties throughout the East Tennessee Region in Bradley, Cumberland, Greene, Grundy, Hamblen, Hamilton, McMinn, Meigs, Putnam, Rhea, Roane, Sevier and Washington counties, including Catoosa County in North Georgia. Crye-Leike sales associates within its East Tennessee Region currently total over 380. Crye-Leike of Chattanooga sold 3,578 units in 2003 with a sales volume of $478.5 million.
The Hixson branch of Crye-Leike, Realtors has moved into a new state-of-the-art building on Highway 153. The new quarters provide the office with more room for expansion in a growing area of Hamilton County. Click on photo to enlarge.
photo by Irby Park