JAMF Software’s current location on Graham Avenue has already been expanded twice in the past few years. The company is looking to build a new office on North Barstow Street.

As developers continue to build up the North Barstow/Phoenix Park neighborhood, a new company has entered the mix in competition over a plot of land on the corner of Barstow and Wisconsin Streets. JAMF Software – a start-up company founded in Eau Claire that now has branches in Minneapolis, New York City and California – and developer John Mogensen both expressed interest in the lot to the Eau Claire Redevelopment Authority at a November 28 meeting.

JAMF Software currently houses their Eau Claire branch at rented office space on Graham Avenue, but are looking to move to a space that better fits their needs, including room to grow, said Julia Johnson, JAMF Software’s Project Specialist. In their current location, JAMF Software has already expanded twice and the office is a bit cobbled together. Johnson said they’d like to build a new office in order to create a more cohesive space to work.

“We want to provide a good space to work in, provide a place for growth and training.” –  Julia Johnson, Project Specialist at JAMF Software The plans for JAMF Software’s building at this point is to have two floors of offices atop first floor retail space. The company would require 30,000 square feet of office space, but would like room to expand as they continue to grow. The lot would provide space for a second building in the future if the need arises.

Mogensen’s plans call for a three story multi-use building with retail on the ground floor and apartments or office space on the top two floors. Mogensen has once before proposed a similar building for the lot, in the spring of 2011, but he and RDA were unable to come to an agreement. Mogensen owns The Livery, which is across the street from the lot in question, and the lot has provided overflow parking in recent years.

Mogensen has been in conversations with the U.S. Post Office, who is looking to move its downtown office to a smaller building, to potentially occupy the first floor space, but Mogensen’s building would move on without the post office if no agreement could be reached.

JAMF Software was founded in Eau Claire in 2002 and develops and sells management software for the Apple platform that is used by business, schools and governments around the world. The company has 160 employees at its Eau Claire branch and is growing quickly, especially here in the Chippewa Valley. Many of the company’s account managers are based in Eau Claire and more are needed as more businesses come in internationally, Johnson said.

Johnson said it’s important to JAMF Software to stay downtown, both for their interests and for the community. The company wants to be an integral part of the downtown, where more is happening, Johnson said. They also have a deep running internship program with UW-Eau Claire and want to be accessible to students coming to work from the university area.

“We want to be a quality employer, which is a reason for building our own building,” Johnson said. “ We want to provide a good space to work in, provide a place for growth and training.”

The Redevelopment Authority suspended a decision to give both JAMF Software and Mogensen time to refine their plans and present again at a Feb. 20 meeting. Johnson said in that time, JAMF Software will be working with a developer to flesh out the plans for their office and refine exactly what they want to see in the building.

Learn more about JAMF Software at jamfsoftware.com.