After nearly 30 years in business, a downtown travel agency is moving to west Lawrence to escape the hustle and bustle of Massachusetts Street.

Construction work has begun on a new West Sixth Street office building for Carlson Wagonlit Travel. Chris Armstrong, the company’s president, said Friday that the business would move in mid-December from its longtime home at 800 Mass.

“The dynamics of Downtown Lawrence have changed over the years,” Armstrong said. “It is becoming more of a dining and entertainment venue. We started to feel that maybe there was a better place for a business like ours.”

The company’s new 5,800-square-foot building will be at 4104 W. Sixth St., just west of the Hy-Vee Food and Drug Store.

Armstrong said he was supportive of the changes that were happening to the mix of businesses downtown, but he said it was difficult for service-oriented businesses that rely more on vehicular traffic than foot traffic.

“There’s still a large segment of the population that only likes to walk 15 or 20 feet from their car to your front door,” Armstrong said. “When you hear your customers say that they have to go around the block two or three times to find a place to park, that really starts to get your attention.”

Armstrong said he chose West Sixth Street for the company’s new offices because he thinks it will be one of the highest growth and most visible corridors in the city.

“There’s about 25,000 cars a day that go by that location. We’re excited about having a sign for them to see,” Armstrong said. “In downtown, most people are too focused on trying to find a place to park that they don’t really notice the signs of the businesses.”

The travel company, which has seven employees, has been in downtown since its founding in 1975. Armstrong said now is a good time for the company to make a move because business in early 2004 began to rebound from a severe downturn following 9-11.

“My theory is that three years after 9-11, people are getting used to the idea that this is not the America that we were used to before 9-11,” Armstrong said. “But we’ve decided we’re going to go on living.”

Chris Armstrong, president of Carlson Wagonlit Travel, poses in the travel agency's office at 800 Mass. Carlson Wagonlit Travel plans to move to 4104 W. Sixth St. by mid-December. Central National Bank plans to open a branch bank in the building being vacated by the travel agency.