One of Russellville’s prime office locations will be available for a new occupant in less than six weeks. It’s the first time it has come open in well over half a century.
Jesse L. Riley and Son Insurance is moving out of its long-time location at 270 South Main Street for larger spaces up the street.
Jim Riley, who is the ‘Son’ in the business’ name, and his partner, Charlie Ray, are offering the 1,350 square feet at the front of the building for lease as professional office space.
It will become available April 1, but the owners are ready to discuss and enter into a lease with potential occupants. Jim Riley can be reached at 270-725-0938 and Charlie Ray at 270-847-5118.
The office space includes two large, private offices along with a large open space, which is well-suited for a reception area and customer service. It is located next to the Pennyrile Rural Electric Cooperative office.
“We see it as an ideal location for professionals like attorneys, accountants, architects, engineers, appraisers or investment advisors,” Riley says.
Riley and Ray continue to operate their two businesses, Jesse L. Riley and Son Real Estate and Auction Co. and A-1 Self Storage. They will still be headquartered at 270 South Main Street in Russellville. Bridget Powell, office manager of A-1 Self Storage, continues to serve the customers of these businesses.
Von Corder, who had run the Riley Insurance portion of the business since 2005, continues as the agency manager.
“Our business continues to grow, we have added more agents, and we are at maximum capacity, so we had to have more space,” Corder tells The LoJo. “We are moving to the Leedom wing of the First Southern National Bank building on the square. We will be in a remodeled area of the bank where loan offices were previously located.”
More details of the insurance agency expansion and relocation will be announced to customers soon, Corder says.
Jesse Riley Sr. went into the insurance business in 1926, added the real estate arm a few years later, and acquired the present South Main office building several years ago. His older son, Jesse Riley Jr., became an FBI agent and then an attorney in Russellville.
Jesse Sr. and Pauline Riley’s younger son Jim returned to Russellville after playing SEC basketball for and graduating from Georgia Tech in 1960. He has been with the business ever since. Charlie Ray is a 1976 graduate of Russellville High School. The WKU graduate is a third generation Russellville businessman, following his grandfather and father, both named Stanford Ray.
Riley branched out to start A-1 Self Storage at 870 Nashville Street in 1981. With the need for more quality storage space, A-1 built and opened a second set of storage units at 633 North Main Street across from McDonald’s in 1994
Being within the city limits entitles the storage complexes to city police protection. Security also includes video monitoring, heavy security lighting and a six-foot chain link fence with electronic gate at the North Main location and gates locked nightly at the Nashville Street site. Now available are 23 new climate controlled units consisting of four popular sizes. These units maintain a steady temperature of 50–80 degrees, using central air conditioning and heat.
Jesse L. Riley & Son Real Estate and Auction Co. is Logan County’s oldest continuous realty business. Along with Riley and Ray, Connie Pearson serves as a Realtor, along with auctioneers Eddie Brown, Larry Johnson and David Head.