So, that’s why there has been a large construction bin parked along the side of 2 Wyndham Street.
Inbox Marketer Corporation owner and chief executive Geoff Linton has purchased the former hotel on the corner of Carden and Wyndham streets, and is in the process of making the upper floors ready for occupancy by company personnel.
The four-storey building dates back to the late 19th century, when it was the stately King Edward Hotel in what was then, as it is now, the hub of Guelph.
The Inbox Marketer plan is to revitalize the building and turn it into a “multi-use tech hub and centre of excellence” for innovation, Linton said earlier this week in a press release.
One of those upper floors was temporarily occupied by staff of the City of Guelph several years ago when the new Guelph City Hall building was under construction. The 17,000 square feet of office space has been vacant since city staff moved out and into city hall.
The location will serve as Inbox Marketer’s head office. The digital marketing services and technology solutions company, which has offices in Guelph, Kitchener and Toronto, envisions transforming the space into a “tech incubator” and “conduit to connect medium size businesses with experienced marketing and tech professionals” along the Toronto-Waterloo innovation corridor. The company believes it will attract new talent to Guelph.
As it has been since its early days as a hotel, the building is directly kitty corner from the train station, making it easily accessible for tech sector visitors, and providing connectivity to other tech centres for employees. Proximity to the transportation hub was a key factor in Linton’s decision to purchase the entire building.
Locally owned Planet Bean coffee shop, a cooperative, occupies the ground floor. In an email exchange, Colleen Preisner of Inbox Marketer said the upper floors have been vacant for seven years.
“Extensive renovations are happening as we speak,” she wrote. “We are using local contractors for all the work and really trying to incorporate some of the original architecture of the hotel, like its exposed brick walls.”
She said the interior itself is perfect for what the company is trying to create, which is a workspace that “encourages collaboration and breeds innovation.”
The company is rapidly expanding, and has been running out of space in its existing Guelph offices, she said. The 2 Wyndham building offers space for present needs and future growth, Preisner indicated.
“We really feel like we are at the epicentre of a growing ecosystem of all that makes Guelph great,” she said, calling the location “perfect.”
“Given the city’s goals around the revitalization of the downtown core, we are proud to be one of the first companies to make this move,” she added. “Our employees have access to a variety of excellent restaurants for lunch or after work activities – not to mention a very popular and always happening coffee shop right in our ground floor.”
