Realtors are usually helping clients celebrate their new homes, but that role was reversed Thursday afternoon as members of The Faris Team had the opportunity to celebrate the official grand opening of the company’s new headquarters in south-end Barrie.
The idea for the headquarters, explained founder and lead broker Mark Faris, goes back to 2017, and was based on advice he’d received from several successful business people over the years.
“They’d said the business was good, but they’d bought the building. That was something that really stuck with me: get the land and be able to have an office location. The problem from a resale standpoint was there was really nothing available and I looked for a long time,” he told the crowd.
Finding a spot in the right location was also a challenge, Faris said.
“We were looking in the southeast end. We wanted to be on this side of the highway… (so) I looked for a long time and I’d wonder what would be the best location for our clients for proximity and centralized amongst all of our offices," he added.
The 1.4-acre lot, situated at 443 Bayview Dr., across the street from Park Place, ended up being the ideal location, Faris acknowledged.
“This has been a five-year project and I learned a lot. The reality is we started with 23,000 square feet we were going to take, then 15,000 and then 10,000. We realized we were doing more and more (things) virtually, but we still needed this location,” he said.
“At the end of the day, this location moving forward is going to be able to still serve our clients, but then have a great spot for our agents and team members to come and work," Faris noted. "When I say this is like a dream come true, it’s a dream that’s been in the works for many years and we had a lot of help in order to get here.”
The Faris Team also presented a cheque for $84,000 to the Barrie Food Bank. For every home purchased or sold, the company donates $100 to a local charity within the eight markets they serve in Ontario and southwest Florida.
