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Kurt Theobald, Paul Ebisch and the team at Classy Llama Studios are relocating to the Chesterfield Village building recently purchased from Bob Noble.
SBJ photo by Wes Hamilton
Kurt Theobald, Paul Ebisch and the team at Classy Llama Studios are relocating to the Chesterfield Village building recently purchased from Bob Noble.

Classy Llama buys Noble buildings

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Springfield digital commerce firm Classy Llama Studios LLC recently purchased businessman Bob Noble’s Chesterfield Village offices for its new headquarters.

Classy Llama Director of Sales and Marketing Greg Goodale said the company closed on the purchase July 6 for undisclosed terms. Together, the two buildings were listed by R.B. Murray Co. for roughly $5 million.

Classy Llama already has begun moving into the buildings, Goodale said, and plans to fully open in Chesterfield Village by July 23. The company currently operates in three leased buildings in Galloway Village.

“We have 60-plus employees right now. We have a number of openings currently and continue to expand,” he said, pointing to three current openings. “You can’t hire a person if you don’t have a place to put them. That was one of the driving factors – we were out of space and had plans to expand.

“Right now, we’re kind of on top of each other, so we needed the room.”

R.B. Murray Co. Vice President Ross Murray said he represented Noble in the transaction, which comprises roughly 34,000 square feet between the two buildings at 2215 W. Chesterfield Blvd. A deed of trust in the amount of $2.39 million from Central Bank of the Ozarks to Llama Nation Properties LLC for the West Chesterfield Boulevard property was posted in the Greene County recorder’s office July 9. A separate deed of trust was filed July 13 in the amount of $1.83 million from Rural Missouri Inc. to Llama Nation Properties.

“They’re making a considerable investment in Springfield,” Murray said of Classy Llama.

With the sale, Noble said he no longer owns buildings in Chesterfield Village, and has no plans to purchase any more. He said the recent sale was a good fit for a growing company to come in and utilize some needed space.

“I’m not in the rental business and I don’t need that asset for the current businesses that I have. I found a company that is very compatible to the space,” he said, adding Classy Llama has a lot of exciting, creative people serving a national market. “They are a young, dynamic business that reminds me what Noble Communications was 25 years ago.”

Noble’s Food Channel LLC and CultureWaves LLC businesses will continue to operate on the first floor of the larger, nearly 26,000-square-foot building through a lease arrangement with undisclosed terms. He was unsure if Pittsburgh-based Gatesman Inc. would stay on as a second-floor tenant. Gatesman last year purchased Noble’s marketing firm Noble Communications Co.

Classy Llama executives say the firm will occupy the third floor. It specializes in e-commerce consulting and also performs website marketing, design and development.

The company was one of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States, ranking 3,497th on the 2016 Inc. 5000 list. Classy Llama reported 2015 revenue of $5 million and 2013-15 revenue growth of 121 percent.

The company did not appear on the 2017 Inc. 5000, and Goodale declined to disclose Classy Llama’s 2017 revenue. Inc. magazine list has not yet released its 2018 list.

Goodale said the signature giant fork outside the Noble offices will stay in place, paying homage to the Noble advertising agency’s decades of work in the food industry.

The building next door, at 2155 W. Chesterfield Blvd., also is undergoing tenant changes.

Previously occupied by Summit Preparatory School, administrators are moving to its new campus at 202 E. Walnut Lawn St. Summit is renovating the building, a former Mercy fitness center, for its new home.

School officials said Summit Prep’s previous campus had limited room for growth and very little green space for students. Ownership of the Chesterfield Village building was transferred in May 2017 to OakStar Bank. OakStar is still listed as owner, according to Greene County assessor records, and bank officials have declined to address questions about the building ownership.

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