LJWorld.com

The transformation of Quantrill's Antique Mall to the Kansas Seed House is moving smoothly.

Several rows of heavy wooden beams have been removed, more windows have been cut through the heavy stone walls, steel supports have been installed and the ground-level floor was made deeper.

Still, the historic old warehouse is recognizable as the building that long housed Quantrill's Antique Mall & Flea Market.

"There has been change, but I don't think people would object to the change," said John Nitcher, a member of Kansas Seed House LLC, the local group that bought the downtown landmark last year. "This is work that will guarantee that this building goes on for another 120 years."

Though it's difficult to tell from outside of the massive stone and wooden structure, much of the interior demolition work had been done by early March, leaving only some cosmetic touches and new construction to be completed before the building's first office users could start moving in by the end of April.

Callahan Creek move

The biggest tenant will be Callahan Creek, an advertising, marketing and public relations agency that's moving to Lawrence from Topeka. The agency will occupy about half the building -- all of the 30,000-square-foot building's top floor, the north half of the second level and some space on the bottom level.

The law firm of Riling, Burkhead and Nitcher will occupy about 5,000 square feet on the south half of the second level.

That leaves a big space on the first level for a yet-to-be named retail tenant and some storage space.

"What we're trying to do is find somebody who will fit into the overall scheme of things," Nitcher said of the retail tenant. Though "a couple" of prospects had surfaced, no deals were close early in March, he said. "There are some discussions taking place, but we're not far enough along to even be suggesting who the tenant might be."

Most of the new owners' focus was on finishing demolition and construction necessary to get Callahan Creek into new digs on schedule.

The agency disclosed in December its plans to relocate. It will bring about 40 employees.

Let's get creative

"We really wanted to be in downtown Lawrence," Cindy Maude, Callahan Creek president and chief executive, said at the time. "The agency business is a very creative one, and you want people to feel energized in their workspace."

The building -- with its limestone facade, high-ceilinged, open feel and downtown location -- offered the creative environment she sought.

With more than $17 million in annual billings, Callahan Creek is the state's third-largest ad agency, behind one in Wichita and another in Overland Park.

Initial plans called for the agency to occupy only the top floor and sublease its space on the second floor.

The other half of the second floor will be occupied by the Riling law firm, whose existing 6,000-square-foot office is across the alley from the building.

The law firm, which provides contract legal services across the state, has been growing rapidly over the past few years, adding attorneys and looking for expansion space.

"We were looking for an alternative, and it just happened the building was available," Nitcher said.

Local partnership

Its availability was brought to the firm's attention by Sam Pepple of Everything But Ice, he said, and Pepple persuaded other members of the ownership group that they could make a deal work.

The building is owned by Nitcher, Pepple, Eugene Riling and Michael Riling of the law firm, and Bo Harris of Harris Construction Co. Inc. Harris is contractor on the renovation project.

Nitcher declined to say what Kansas Seed House would invest in the project, adding that the total would depend on whether the retail tenant does its own construction or the owners do it.

By early March, a lot of work had been done.

Several rows of support beams had been removed to increase the usable space and lighten up the spaces, about a half-dozen windows have been cut, and the first-level floor has been deepened to increase the headroom there.

"They've gone in and excavated," Nitcher said, "so the ceilings will be 10 or 11 feet high."

People who were in the building when it was Quantrill's will remember low ceilings on that level.

Interior walls were being sandblasted to remove paint from the exposed stone and to lighten up the wood.

For Nitcher, watching the demolition and renovation at the building just out the back door from his office has been therapeutic.

"We spend all day shuffling paper from one pile to another," he said. "Then you come over here and see something concrete taking shape. It's good."

-- Richard Brack's phone message number is 832-7194. His e-mail address is rbrack@ljworld.com.