Butler Snow stays put, starts major office renovation
By Jacob Steimer – Lead Reporter, Memphis Business Journal
After considering a move, one of Memphis' largest law firms has signed a long-term lease renewal, in tandem with a major renovation.
Butler Snow LLP and Highwoods Properties are making roughly $1.9 million of improvements to the firm's 1.5 floors in the Crescent Center, according to Butler Snow COO Rance Sapen.
The bulk of the improvements will be made to the client-facing parts of the building, including the transformation of the firm's conference center into a client-focused meeting space. Everything from furniture, carpet, paint, tile, and more will be replaced in that space, Sapen said. Additionally, the firm will be adding spaces more conducive to collaboration and making smaller updates throughout the roughly 57,000 square feet.
Sapen said the firm was "always aware" of other office space possibilities but decided it liked its current home.
"It’s a place we feel like we can be and want to be for a long time," Sapen said. "[The Crescent Center] feels like where Butler Snow ought to be."
The Crescent Center is Highwoods' last major asset in Memphis. In August 2019, the company announced it would exit Memphis to help finance its $440 million purchase of the new Bank of America Tower in Charlotte. At the time of the announcement, it owned more than a dozen local properties, which it has subsequently sold.
Due to largely divesting from Memphis, Highwoods no longer directly manages Crescent, but Sapen said the transition to new management has been seamless.
Work on the renovations recently started and should be completed by Sept. 1, Sapen said. Grinder, Taber & Grinder is the general contractor, and The Crump Firm is the architect.
