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Bannerman wanted his business in downtown

September 19, 2002

Bannerman wanted his business in downtown

by Carol Pelosi, Wake Weekly Editor

"I really wanted to be in downtown Wake Forest," builder Rod Bannerman said last week.
He saw his chance, and now Bannerman & Co. is right in the middle of it since Bannerman purchased the old Ford garage building next to Warren, Perry & Anthony on South White Street.

"I want to keep Wake Forest here," he said, gesturing. "It's not out there on Capital Boulevard. It's right here on South White Street."

After a few years of having his office at home, Bannerman said he was looking for a place to house his business, but a strip mall was not the image he wanted. When he was leaving a closing with attorney James Warren, Bannerman asked him if he would sell the Ford building. Yes, Warren said, and the deal was done in two weeks, though Bannerman says wryly, "James doesn't let anything go cheap."

Bannerman says Warren is another downtown Wake Forest booster. "He's all about downtown."

Warren is his lawyer, he does his banking with CCB and Fidelity, he buys the hardware he needs at Jones Hardware and B&W Hardware and he and his staff can walk across the street to eat lunch at The Forks Cafeteria.

"I'm thrilled to see Target coming," Bannerman said, although it is outside downtown. It will offer goods not available in town and draw others in to shop. It was a blow to Wake Forest, he said, when the Roses Store in the Market of Wake Forest closed.

Right now, Bannerman is concentrating on completing the remodeling for the building.

Works of Clay will remain in the front facing South White. Bannerman gutted the rest of the building and put his office in the middle with two suppliers, Concept Lighting Sales on one side and Builders Floor Store owned by Teresa Madden on the other. "She's been doing our work for five or six years."

Outside, he plans to tear off the existing facade and sidewalk and put in separate entrances that look like store fronts with awnings.

Bannerman's new suite of offices is a far cry from the oily garage that was once in the space. There are tile floors with marble accents, spacious offices for himself, his wife, Pam, four superintendents and business manager Susan Blevins. Pam designed and decorated the offices.

Bannerman & Co. has been in business in Wake Forest since 1987, and he has had a part in much of the significant growth since then. St. Andrews, Holding Ridge, Heath Ridge -- "If there's been a subdivision built, we've been there."

Right now, he is concentrating on Pemberley on South Main. "That's been my baby from the beginning." With 122 lots, about 40 percent built out, it will keep him busy for a few more years, and he is also developing the last 35 lots in Smith Creek.

Sales of the new homes in the last 60 days have been slow, Bannerman said, because of all the resale homes on the market. The company has had a 30 percent growth in sales in the last five years. He sold 90 to 100 homes last year and is planning to build and sell 125 to 150 next year. "This will be our flat year," he said.

"I develop the plans and find the lots," Bannerman said, and then he builds the homes using his four superintendents and subcontractors. "Some of those subcontractors have been with us for 15 years," he said. "They are the key to our success.

"I try to do things the very best way possible. The continuity of our subs is what makes it possible.

"I've got my name on the front of every one of those houses," Bannerman said, "and I want those guys to make me look good. I put the right person in place and expect him to do the very best job."

Bannerman wants to see the town secure a permanent source of water, a big concern for all builders since the town is restricting builders to 50 homes a year per subdivision.

In Pemberley, Bannerman said, he installed sod in all the front yards, and sod must be watered the day it is put down. This summer, with watering restrictions, he had to schedule sod-laying with the number of the house so it could be watered.

"Wake Forest has come a long way," Bannerman said, and he foresees a prosperous future with his company right where he wants it. "It's a great location."

Old Ford Building born again

The Ford Building on Wake Forest's South White Street has had more lives than most cats.
It was built in 1927 as the first and only Ford dealership in town with a showroom in front, a parts department behind and slightly lower and a garage that grew with two additions. Because of the additions, it stretches from White nearly to Brooks. The building is just north of the Warren, Perry & Anthony law office.

Ray Harris owned the building and dealership years ago, local attorney John Rich remembered, and was one of the parties to a murder.

Harris was confined to a wheelchair, Rich said. He had a falling out with another local man, John Baker, who, Rich said, "had a reputation for fighting and drinking" and generally breaking bad. Baker had said he was going to kill Harris.

One day, Baker walked into the Ford dealership and Harris pulled out a pistol and shot Baker, killing him. Baker was carrying a gun, Rich said, but he had not made any threats or pulled the gun that day. "Harris was never indicted," Rich said, and the matter died.

At some time after that, H.L. Miller came to town and began working for Harris as a mechanic. After a few years, just before World War II, Miller had saved enough to purchase the building and dealership from Harris along with a Texaco dealership. In later years, Miller also owned Miller Oil Co. and a considerable amount of land in town. He is fondly remembered for his years as mayor, for his many gifts and donations to the town and for his personal interest and activity for the good of the town.

As Carlton Chappell remembers, Miller operated the dealership for a few years, then sold it to Ralph Cruser and a man with the last name of Tynes, who soon left town. Cruser later sold the dealership to a man named Sullivan, who only lasted for a few months before selling to the Strickland brothers from Falls. The Sullivans sold the business to Collis Lewis, and Lewis in turn sold it to Chappell in 1965.

Miller continued to own the building, Chappell said, until 1975.

After World War II, Miller also operated a school for mechanics under the G.I. Bill in the building, a school that prepared many local men for careers.

The building's life as a car dealership ended at the end of 1969 when Chappell moved the Ford business to the corner of U.S. 1 and U.S. 1-A.

After that, Miller leased the building, which also had a large parking lot, to George Mackie Jr., who operated a fiberglass business there, manufacturing portable toilets and boats until the business went bankrupt.

Miller then sold the building to Greg Bujewski, who operated an antique business in the front of the building. Bujewski also owned Wooten's Homotel on South Main, now the Franklin's Inn.

In the late 1970s, Sanford Bailey and law partners John Rich and James Warren assumed the note Bujewski had from Miller. They renovated the front office space for the Rich & Warren law practice.

Bailey, Rich and Warren began to reclaim the former garage in the early 1980s, cutting it up into offices and leasing it to Post Software International, a small computer and cash register company that kept expanding and then moved out to new quarters in 1986.

When Rich and Warren dissolved their partnership, Warren bought the building and moved his law office into the space vacated by PSI. Hartsfield & Nash insurance agency moved into the front offices and remained there until 1999. Martin Nassif had his accounting office next to the insurance agency for a while.

Since 1999 the front office space has been occupied by Appian, an engineering firm, and is now home to Works of Clay, a do-it-yourself pottery studio.

CAD Futures Corporation, a company specializing in high-end design for customers all over the world, occupied the back of the building with its loading dock for seven and a half years, owner Paddy Shetley said. The business had to relocate to Raleigh when Bannerman bought the building and needed the dock.