A pandemic boost in business means this downtown space is no longer for sale

When last we checked in with King of Freight, owner Mike Ricklefs had put his WaterWalk office — the former Gander Mountain space — on the market for $6 million due to the pandemic.

Now, also due to the pandemic, the building is off the market.

Ricklefs said his freight brokerage now needs the almost 90,000-square-foot downtown space.

About 150 of the firm’s 500 employees are back working at the office since working from home in the pandemic.

“We leave it up to the employees,” Ricklefs said.

All new employees have to work at the office at least initially.

“We kind of use it for development,” Ricklefs said. “It’s really hard to teach people who have not had industry experience.”

He said his company is still growing.

“We’ve been doing record-breaking numbers,” Ricklefs said. “We’re still growing like crazy.”

He said that’s in part because of the pandemic and supply chain issues.

“Everybody’s so desperate for trucks, and they all need our help quite a bit.”

King of Freight used to lease space in several buildings but now has consolidated everything into the WaterWalk space.

Ricklefs said he’s still getting an occasional call from someone interested in the former Gander Mountain space.

“We’ve turned down anybody that’s talked to us.”