Credit union plans $30M headquarters at Horizon Center in Oak Ridge
Thursday July 22, 2010
ORNL Federal Credit Union has purchased nearly 38 acres...
ORNL Federal Credit Union has purchased nearly 38 acres in Horizon Center Business Park in west Oak Ridge for a new corporate headquarters.
The site fronting Oak Ridge Turnpike in the Roane County portion of the city is regarded as a prime location in the nearly empty park. The Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board sold the land.
The credit union plans to consolidate operating departments now scattered among six locations in Anderson and Knox Counties in a campus-like setting at the Horizon Center site.
Plans call for construction of a $30 million facility. The departments that would move to the headquarters now employ 257 people. Another 100 workers are anticipated in long-term growth over the next 10 to 15 years.
The credit union's design firm "strongly recommended the Horizon site for its strategic location and their view of its future potential considering road improvements and growth patterns in the region," said the firm's president and CEO, John McKittrick.
Industrial Board Chairman Bill Biloski hailed the land buy as a major step in sparking renewed interest in Horizon Center.
"It will be the kick-start for the build-out of Horizon Center," Biloski said today.
When the board was in talks with the credit union's real estate representative over the land buy, there was discussion of a mid-2010 startup of the new corporate headquarters.
Credit Union spokeswoman Nancy J. Ballard said this morning that construction has now been put on hold "because of the economy."
The firm plans to maintain its Oak Ridge branch office on Rutgers Avenue until after the corporate headquarters is built, she said.
Ballard said that site would remain a credit union office after the new headquarters opens, and its top two floors would likely be leased out.
Source: Knoxville News Sentinel
