Trades District garage lines up software company as commercial space tenant: Exclaimer
The first tenant of the commercial space that was built on the ground floor of the new 350-space Trades District parking garage will be a software company called Exclaimer.
Bloomington’s redevelopment commission (RDC) approved a draft lease for the 4,059-square-foot space at its regular Monday evening meeting.
The commercial space to be leased fronts South Rogers Street. The Trades District is the area north of the city hall and county government building on Morton Street, bounded on the north by 11th Street.
On Monday, Bloomington director of economic and sustainable development Alex Crowley described the deal to RDC members as essentially a four-year lease with the option to exit the agreement at the end of year three—as long as Exclaimer covers half the rent that they would have paid through year four.
The $19 per square foot that Exclaimer will be paying at the beginning of the agreement amounts to $6,426 a month, or about $77,000 per year. Part of the deal includes a “tenant improvement allowance” of up to $55 per square foot, which totals $223,245.
The improvement allowance is what the RDC will pay to build out the space for basic occupancy—it’s currently undivided area with bare drywall, and a concrete floor. The requirement that Exclaimer could pay some rent for time it does not occupy the space—if it makes an “early” exit—is meant to ensure the RDC’s costs for the buildout are covered.
Exclaimer was registered as a foreign limited liability company with the state of Indiana in mid-February of this year.
The registered agent for the company is listed as Brad Wisler. That’s because Wisler was CEO and founder of a company called Periodic, which was acquired by Exclaimer in mid-January of this year.
Periodic is described in the Exclaimer news release from earlier this year as “a major player in the calendaring and appointment scheduling market.” Exclaimer helps companies figure out ways to create revenue opportunities with their email signatures.
Wisler is quoted in the January news release saying, “We couldn’t be more excited about joining forces with Exclaimer. For years, we’ve both been in the business of building real-world connections through online communications.”
The quote from Wisler continues: “By integrating our unique booking platform with Exclaimer’s email and survey management tools, we will create a one-of-a-kind platform for strengthening relationships between companies and their customers and employees.”
Wisler is also currently chair of Bloomington’s plan commission and formerly a city councilmember representing District 2.
Periodic, the company that Wisler founded, began life as a tenant at The Mill, a co-working space housed in the RDC’s adaptive reuse project at the old Showers Company dimension mill. The Mill is located on the east side of the Trades District opposite from Rogers Street.
Crowley described the basic scenario that had unfolded—a company that was founded at The Mill, and has now been acquired by another company—as one that fits what the Trades District is trying to accomplish overall.
According to assistant city attorney Larry Allen, unless the terms and conditions of the lease change in some significant way between the draft approved by the RDC and the final version, the RDC will not need to approve the final version. The RDC will, in any case, see the final version as part of the materials provided at their next meeting, Allen said.
The RDC’s approval of the draft lease agreement on Monday (April 18) came one year plus one day after the ribbon cutting for the Trades District parking garage.
