Update: Geneva Rock has successfully relocated to the Riverboat Building and hosted an open house to celebrate with employees, community leaders, and others. The celebration kicked off with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and then guests enjoyed refreshments while taking tours.
We are excited to announce the purchase of the Riverboat Building in Taylorsville, with plans to relocate our main headquarters there. Our current location on 53rd South in Murray has become too small to effectively serve our business, so this acquisition couldn’t have come at a better time.
Initially, we considered constructing an 80,000-squarefoot building with an underground parking lot at our current location to meet our needs. However, this proved to be too costly, so we explored other options.
Doug Snow, president of our sister company Beehive Insurance, was facing similar growth challenges and he discovered the Riverboat Building and entered into an agreement to lease space for his company. Doug mentioned that there might be an opportunity for Geneva Rock as well.
We carefully examined the property and thought, “Why not see if we can purchase the entire building and make it our new corporate headquarters?”
So, we entered negotiations with the family that owns the building and were able to make an agreement to purchase it outright.
“My team has always thought this building would make a spectacular headquarters for a strong company in the valley,” says Farran Tozer Brown, director of the Vectra Management Group, the company who previously owned the building. “However, the property was doing quite well, and we weren’t necessarily looking to sell. We had just invested a lot into renovations, but when we heard the vision that Geneva Rock had for the property, we couldn’t resist building a partnership.”
The 100,000-square-foot Riverboat Building provides ample room for Geneva Rock’s continued growth. There are four floors of 25,000 square feet each, and we will occupy the entire fourth floor. Even with the move, we’ll easily have room for more than 30 percent growth. Beehive Insurance will lease 16,000 square feet from us on the second floor, and we will share the remaining 9,000 square feet with them with a 64-person training room, gym, conference room, and flex offices.
As for the first and third floors, we want previous tenants to remain, and they’re on board with our vision of the future of the building. They like the direction we’re going with the property, which includes keeping the historical name “Riverboat Building.” It gets its name from the original building on the property, a restaurant in the shape of a Mississippi paddlewheel riverboat. Over time, the owner found a better use for the land, and the current structure was built in 1998.
“Something needs to be said about Geneva Rock’s decision to pay homage to the history of the building,” Farran says. “The name is a nod to the history of Taylorsville. We’re happy to see the building go to a company that values its history and is committed to preserving it. We’re excited to see what Geneva Rock will do with the space and we’re confident that they will be good stewards of
the building.”
What we love about our location in Murray is its central location in the Salt Lake
Valley. We were worried about relocating too far north or south, but the Riverboat Building is only one interchange further north off the freeway, making it easy for both team members and customers to still reach us.
As we relocate, we want to provide a more comfortable and modern work environment for our employees. Substantial renovations are currently underway to ensure we have state-of-the-art facilities. We are completely gutting the fourth and second floors and are building it from the ground up with an entirely new interior, including the HVAC system. Outside, we’re repaving the parking lot and redoing the sidewalks to meet Geneva Rock’s quality standards.
Additional landscaping and roofing renovations will take place over the next five years.
“I’m so proud that this premiere Taylorsville building is now going to be the
headquarters of Geneva Rock, which is best in its class,” Farran says. “Geneva Rock has always been an important part of the community, and this move will allow the company to better fulfill its mission of Building a Better Community.”
You’ll be able to find us in our new location in June. Our move to the Riverboat Building demonstrates our ongoing commitment to providing top-quality products and services to our customers. We’re excited about this new opportunity and believe that it will serve us and our customers well for many years to come.