Now the Historic Mercantile Lofts at 232 High St. serves as the firm’s new headquarters, with 5,000 square feet of office space and 1,500 square feet of storage.
“After 109 years, we’re back at street level,” said Bill Keck, the firm’s senior director. “The building here is just phenomenal for us. We’re able to consolidate all of our files, which we had at five different locations, to the basement.”
Situated between Art Off Symmes and Steed-Hammond-Paul, the new location also offers two-hour parking around the entire block, rather than the metered parking near the previous location, Keck said.
Established in 1840, the firm is the third oldest continuing legal practice in Ohio, according to Jeff Rulon, a law firm director and president of affiliate ACS Title & Closing Services.
“We’re excited to be part of the redevelopment of downtown,” Rulon said. “We’re very much committed to the city of Hamilton.”
Historic Developers, the developers of the Mercantile Block, worked with the city’s business development team to facilitate the permitting process for the law firm build out, according to Jody Gunderson, the city’s economic development director.
“Millikin & Fitton has shown a commitment to the community, as well as their customers by reinvesting in a downtown Hamilton location,” Gunderson said.
The new location also offers aesthetic appeal of a historic office coupled with modern technology, plus 16- to 20-foot ceilings, with walls extending up about 10 feet and framed glass from there on up separating the various conference rooms and offices. The glass allows sunlight to illuminate the entire office, which also receives natural light via a skylight atop the building’s three-story atrium.
“The new atrium is just gorgeous,” Rulon said. “It’s a sight to behold.”
Members of the Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce will get to tour the building between 5 and 9 p.m. Thursday during a Business After Hours event.
The Hamilton move isn’t the only one the law firm is carrying out this year. In December, Millikin & Fitton is scheduled to move about a dozen employees from a West Chester Twp. office at 6900 Tylersville Road to the second floor of 9032 Union Centre Boulevard, a new building under construction by Schumacher Dugan.
“We’ve had a presence out in the West Chester-Mason area for … almost 10 years,” Rulon said. “What we’re doing is moving that office into the Union Centre area, which we think is a little more convenient area for our clients.”
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