Former factory building is restored for Weber Advertising & Marketing Inc.
Sunday News; May 22, 2011
by Paula Wolf

The large, vacant building that formerly housed Keener Manufacturing Co. is now home to a local ad agency.

The 1920s-era brick edifice, at 533 Janet Ave. in Lancaster city, was purchased in September by Weber Advertising & Marketing Inc., which has been renovating it over the past eight months.

The 15-year-old company, currently at 629 N. Market St., moves in June 3, officially.

Jim Weber, co-owner of the business with his wife, Jennifer, said they’ve been seeking bigger quarters for a while.

There was only about 7,000 usable square feet in the Market Street location, he said, and Weber Advertising has more than doubled — to 23 full-time employees — since it moved there in 2004. The full-service ad agency counts Herr Foods, Donegal Insurance Group and Hoober Inc. among its clients.

Weber said the company originally looked at the Historic East Side Suites project in the 100 block of East King Street before turning to the old Keener building, which has about 46,000 square feet on the main floor.

According to newspaper records, Keener Manufacturing made letterpress tags for baggage, apparel, inventory and other uses. It also did offset printing of brochures, posters and other items.

John Singer Sr., a former Keener employee, said the company closed a couple of years ago, causing 50-60 people to lose their jobs. Singer, who now works for Lancaster Reprographics, said Keener’s airplane-tag manufacturing business took a hit after 9/11, when air travel plummeted.

Weber said the site, a foreclosure property, was purchased from Susquehanna Bank. The cost for acquisition and renovation amounted to less than $1 million, he said.

Jennifer Weber said funding came from EDC Finance Corp., which helped secure a loan from the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority and Fulton Bank.

Other potential buyers likely passed on the dilapidated building because they figured the upgrades would be too expensive, her husband said. The structure had become so neglected that birds were flying in and out, he said.

Weber Advertising was able to rein in costs by not hiring a general contractor. Instead, Mark Wittensoldner, of 5 Star Property Services, oversaw the work.

“It was a pretty monumental project,” Jim Weber said.

The agency will occupy 12,500 square feet on the first floor, he said, and renovate the rest later, perhaps to house commercial tenants. The 20,000-plus square feet in the basement will stay as is.

Weber Advertising is currently on three floors, and having everything on one level “will help the flow of business,” Jim Weber said. “It’ll also be easier to find the bathroom,” he quipped.

Improvements to the building included a new roof; brick re-pointing; new electrical and heating systems; and replacement of almost 200 windows.

“The natural light is great,” said Tony Roda, art director of Weber Advertising.

The property also was brought into compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. There are now two entrances, and a wooden ramp provides wheelchair access to one of them, where a loading dock used to be.

The property also includes 70 parking spaces, and 19 apple and cherry trees have been newly planted on the property.

Inside, the angled hardwood floors, blackened with dirt, were sanded down and refinished, Wittensoldner said. Damaged planks were removed and replaced with others from the site — a process Jennifer Weber jokingly referred to as “cannibalizing.”

Floors that lacked hardwood have been carpeted.

New baseboard, casings and doors were put in as well, along with walls to create additional office space.

“The coolest thing about this job is everyone chipped in with their own ideas,” Jim Weber said.

The original offices — some featuring frosted-glass doors and built-in shelves — are being retained. The woodwork in them, he said, is “fabulous.”

“It was a pretty monumental project.” – Jim Weber, regarding renovations for old Keener building.

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