Lerner | Ladds + Bartels moving

PROVIDENCE– Lerner | Ladds + Bartels will move next year from Providence to Pawtucket.
Company principle Christian Ladds said the architectural firm closed on a deal to purchase a former mill building at 163 Exchange St. Renovations to the vacant four-story mill will start soon, with the company planning on occupying the fourth floor and leasing out the bottom three floors.
“We’ve been talking to them about it for a couple years and finally were able to work it out,” Ladds told Providence Business News last week.
Lerner | Ladds + Bartels will leave its roughly 4,500-square-foot offices in a leased Queen Anne Victorian house on the East Side of Providence. The new offices in Pawtucket will occupy about 5,500 square feet and provide more breathing room for the company, Ladds said.
“We want a more horizontal format, which this building offers,” Ladd said.
The company also liked the surrounding uses, which include offices and studios for designers, craftsman and artists. The Sandra Feinstein Gamm Theatre sits across the street.
Ladds said the company is tentatively calling its new building the Design Exchange, with hopes of attracting designers and related people to the lower floors.