Ferguson scraps plans for additional corporate office

NEWPORT NEWS Before plans were announced to construct a new showroom facility on its corporate campus, Ferguson officials were preparing to go vertical with its fourth office building.

Denise Waters Vaughn, Ferguson director of corporate communications, said Tuesday there are currently no plans to revive former plans for another office building at Ferguson's Jefferson Avenue campus, despite the firm experiencing robust growth.

Prior to announcing plans for a new 15,000-square-foot showroom earlier this month, Ferguson officials back in 2007 had part of the nearly 10-acre site designated for a new office building.

Christine Dwyer, Ferguson public relations manager, said the scope and size of the proposed office building were not publicly released.

Original plans for the proposed building called for consolidating corporate operations for Wolseley Canada, Ferguson, and at the time, Stock Building Supply.

"The original plan was to centralize back office support functions, such as human resources, legal and finances, and expand into the new office building on the property where we are currently planning to build a new showroom," Dwyer said.

But then the Great Recession hit, forcing the large-scale wholesale supplier of construction-related plumbing products, to cutback on spending, layoff employees and dismiss its original plans to construct a new office building.

Ferguson currently operates in five buildings in Newport News: three on its corporate campus along Jefferson Avenue, and two other buildings that house its national information technology and accounting branches along Warwick Blvd., Dwyer said.

Officials are also set to relocate its national call center from Newport News into 45,000 square feet of space at 521 Butler Farm Road in the Hampton Roads Center in Hampton, creating 171 new jobs, while bringing 144 existing workers to the site.

"Employees of the national sales center were working in various locations around the headquarter campus, which is why our new space in Hampton is ideal," Dwyer said. "Although plans have not been finalized, the space will likely be used for additional offices and meeting rooms."

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Ferguson scraps plans for additional corporate office