Print edition: 
The former Wichita Independent Business Association headquarters will become a legal center, according to its new owners.
Lawyers Craig Shultz and Kirk Holmes of Spyglass Properties have purchased the 5-year-old building at 445 N. Waco, with the sale expected to close within the next few days. No sales price was disclosed.
The sale was unanimously ratified Wednesday night by about 30 voting WIBA members, WIBA president Tim Witsman said Thursday.
Shultz Law Office and the Law Office of Kurt Holmes have shared an office since the late 1980s. Their current location at 205 E. Central was purchased in 2009 for the expansion of the downtown YMCA.
Over the next two months, the new owners will remodel the building to fit the needs of their firms, including space for other attorneys who might want proximity to the Sedgwick County Courthouse.
WIBA will remain in the building through the summer, with remodeling expected to be complete in early September.
Both firms wanted to remain near the Sedgwick County Courthouse and the broader Wichita legal community.
"We talked for a while about whether to stay downtown or move east," Craig Shultz said. "It was a little tempting to move, but we wanted to be in this particular area so we started to look at properties within walking distance from the courthouse convenient to the downtown area."
A big reason was Holmes' practice, which specializes in collection and landlord/tenant issues. Shultz and his son, Michael, specialize in personal injury, medical malpractice, criminal defense and general civil litigation.
"With the nature of my practice, I go to the courthouse twice a day, so it's very convenient," Holmes said.
"I think you begin to be a little more isolated from the legal community if you're not downtown," Craig Shultz said. "Being in the core area allows us to maintain better and more frequent contact with the legal community."
In addition, the building provides ample client parking and expansion possibilities for both firms.
Witsman said his organization hopes to finalize lease plans downtown soon, with two possible locations identified after a two-month search.
The Waco location was a drain on the WIBA budget, Witsman said, about 24 percent of net operating expenses.
"It's a lovely building and we hate to lose it, but you don't sit by and piddle away money," Witsman said.
With the sale, Witsman said the small-business advocacy group "will move well into the black.
"Without it, then our alternative is to use up our reserves," he said.
Marlin Penner of NAI John T. Arnold Associates negotiated the sale.
