Posted on: March 8, 2010
Business First of Louisville – by John R. Karman III
Fellon-McCord & Associates LLC has found a new home for its growing energy-consulting business.
The 18-year-old Louisville-based company, located at 9960 Corporate Campus Drive in the Hurstbourne Green business complex, plans to move in April or May to Faulkner Real Estate Corp.’s Ormsby Three building in the Forest Green Corporate Office Park, according to president and CEO Andrew Fellon.
Forest Green is located at North Hurstbourne Parkway and Dorsey Lane.
Fellon-McCord initially will lease 13,500 square feet on the top floor of the six-story, 150,000-square-foot building, Fellon said, but it has the right of first refusal for the remainder of the space on the floor.
The company has outgrown its 9,400 square feet on Fenley Real Estate’s Corporate Campus. Company officials looked at several sites before choosing Ormsby Three, he said.
Ormsby Three was selected, Fellon said, because it is “brand new space” that is being built out to the company’s specifications.
It also is centrally located for Fellon-McCord’s 66 employees, he said. “The bulk of them live out in that general direction.”
Building now 73 percent leased
The Fellon-McCord deal brings occupancy at Ormsby Three, which opened in 2007, to 73 percent, according to Jeff Ellison, vice president and director of leasing for Faulkner Real Estate. He said the company has continued to sign leases, even during the recession.
Ellison said Faulkner was fortunate in the case of Fellon-McCord to have a large block of contiguous Class A office space available to accommodate the expanding firm.
“(You) have to be in the game when it comes to economic development,” he said. “It allows for these opportunities. It’s why we built this building.”
The “campus environment” has helped Faulkner lease its three office buildings at Forest Green, according to Ellison.
Its Ormsby One is 100 percent leased, and Ormsby Two is 75 percent leased.
Company plans to add 40 jobs
Fellon-McCord plans to fill its new space quickly. Its expansion effort calls for the addition of at least 40 employees in the next three years. The workers are being hired to keep up with growing demand for the company’s advisory and management services.
Fellon-McCord helps commercial and industrial businesses buy energy and manage energy expenditures. Its clients include automotive, building materials, chemical, food processing, aluminum and steel, municipal and institutional customers.
Demand for consulting and management services has been high during the economic downturn, Fellon said, as companies look for every opportunity to save money.
Fellon-McCord announced its expansion plans during a December meeting of the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority in Frankfort.
The KEDFA board granted the company preliminary approval for $1 million in state tax incentives for up to 10 years under the Kentucky Business Investment program.
The expansion requires an investment of nearly $4.2 million, including rent payments. The initial 20 new hires, a mix of analyst and management positions, will have an average hourly wage of $23 and an annual payroll of $800,000.
Private-equity firm took minority stake
Fellon-McCord was founded in 1992 by Fellon and business partner John McCord, who now is company chairman.
They sold it to Baltimore-based Constellation Energy in 2003 but bought it back as part of an investor group in 2008.
In January, Chicago-based Baird Venture Partners bought a minority interest in Fellon-McCord. Officials did not disclose the size of its stake, but they described it as “significant” in a Business First article at the time.
Company officials considered Houston and Chicago for expansion but chose Louisville, largely because of its “readily available, steady work force,” Fellon said.
“Louisville is a wonderful community,” he added. “It’s got great people in it. We really want all of our operations here.”