Needing room for current and future staff, COBYS Family Services has acquired the former Simon Lever headquarters for $1.1 million, courthouse records show.
COBYS will begin moving about 35 of its employees to the 444 Murry Hill Circle building, off Oregon Pike, on Feb. 22 and 23, said executive director Mark Cunningham.
“I’m thrilled that we found this location. I hate to use the word ‘perfect,’ because nothing is perfect, but it’s close. We are a blessed organization,” he said Thursday.
Last week’s purchase, he said, brings COBYS a building that can be made ready for occupancy quickly, is located between its three other sites (all of which are being retained) and provides room for future growth.
“We’re kind of packed like sardines” in its current spaces, said Cunningham. “This building will give us room to breathe and allow us to grow at a location that we think is really desirable.”
To prepare the building for COBYS’ arrival, the 13,600-square-foot structure in Manheim Township is getting fresh paint, new carpet, new lighting and roof repairs.
Easing the task were 59 volunteers who worked 220 hours there on Monday (the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday), a grateful Cunningham pointed out. Handling much of the heavy lifting were 20 members of the Manheim Township High School football team.
Volunteers are returning the next several Saturdays too, he added.
Handling the sale of the Murry Hill Circle building were Scott Bradbury of U.S. Commercial Realty and Linford Good of High Associates Ltd.
Moving to the new building will be COBYS’ foster care and adoption staff in its headquarters at 1417 Oregon Road, Leola, plus its family-life education staff at 171 E. King St.
The relocation will create a more comfortable workplace for staff remaining in those buildings, explained Cunningham. COBYS has 123 employees, including about 50 full-time employees.
Simon Lever moved in September to 147 W. Airport Road, the former location of Benecon and ConnectCare3, which had moved to 201 E. Oregon Road.
COBYS was founded in 1979 as Church of the Brethren Youth Services. It provides adoption and foster care services, counseling, family life education, and a permanency program (which seeks to safely reunite children in foster care with their biological family).