Real estate firm invests $1M in Greenville location

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Real estate consulting company Armada Analytics Inc. has had a presence in Greenville for about 10 years, but a $1 million investment in a new facility at 104 S. Main St. will make it a national hub for employees and clients.

Needing more room for 33 new hires pushed the company’s decision to move from its former 55 Beattie Place headquarters farther into the heart of downtown.

“The downtown area is really a draw for us for hiring,” said Leigh-Anne Devier, Armada Anaytics’ executive vice president. “We a lot times hire straight out of college, so just having that downtown walkability to, you know, walk some place to get lunch or … walk some place to drink after work, it’s definitely enticing for some of our new hires and even some of our employees.”

Devier said the company is scouting out potential entry-level underwriting, as well as zoning analysts for their new office, set to open January 2021. The office will also continue to serve as a base for employees spread across the country and at Armada’s locations in Dallas, Texas, and Nashville, Tenn., as well as clients visiting from around the world.

“We’d like to have people from all over the country,” Matt Legge, CEO of Armada Analytics told GSA Business Report. “We only have offices in three states, but we have people in 15.” He hopes the new office will serve as a place where “they can come and get a sense of the family and office environment of the team and be connected, so it’s a very open space with a lot of places for people to congregate, train and really collaborate and work together.”

The company began hatching plans to move in February, but instead of curtailing the expansion after the arrival of COVID-19, Armada’s executive team made the most of time spent away from the 55 Beattie Place office.

“We were very methodical and deliberate,” Legge said. “We knew we had some time and didn’t have to disrupt operations, because everyone was working from home.”

It also didn’t hurt that the company has been growing for 10 years straight, he said, about the time that the company relocated from Clemson to Greenville’s streets.

The company offers commercial real estate underwriting research and tailored analysis services for a variety of clients including government programs, banks, insurance companies, Fannie Mae DUS lenders, Freddie Mac servicers and HUD lenders, among others.

"Armada’s decision to expand its facilities and grow its workforce in Greenville points to a positive economic climate that's welcoming to innovators, thinkers and corporate citizens who’ve adopted a hybrid model of headquarters and home offices,” Greenville City Manager John McDonough said in today’s news release.  “We’re hopeful Armada's investment leads to more opportunities for the recruitment of companies that offer good wages and flexible work options.