Movement Mortgage recently broke ground on a second building at its home base in Fort Mill, South Carolina, a move that doubles the size of its National Sales Support Center and underscores the lender’s significant growth. The company, one of the nation’s fastest-growing retail mortgage lenders, is investing $18 million to construct the new three-story, 90,000-square-foot building at the Bailes Ridge Corporate Park on S.C. 160 in Lancaster County. It’s expected to open in January 2019.
The building will stand on the same plot of land as the current headquarters, and house departments that include a larger information technology team, the retail sales support team and the company’s affiliates, such as Movement Insurance. Among its amenities will be a larger gym, a cafe and a courtyard between the first building and the new one.
The expansion project aligns with Movement’s goal to scale its operations, serve more borrowers and add more than 700 new employees to its headquarters workforce over the next five years. It also demonstrates the company’s commitment to bringing more jobs to Lancaster County.
“Relationships matter and proximity matters. When we get team members face-to-face at the same location, we see exponential productivity,” said Movement CEO Casey Crawford. “Despite a contracting mortgage market, we’ve continued to take market share across the United States and we plan on continuing to grow in 2018 and well into the future. We want as many team members together in Fort Mill as possible to continue the great work that we’re doing.”
Founded in 2008 with just four employees, Movement has grown tremendously in its nine years. Today, it employs more than 4,300 people across licensed operations in 47 states. More than 800 of those employees work in its Fort Mill headquarters. A new building is key to enhancing operations and performance as those numbers increase.
“This just shows our continued commitment to growth,” Crawford said. “We’re in this for the long-term. This new building is another stake in the ground that cements our vision to keep gaining market share, to keep innovating and to keep serving borrowers with love and integrity.”
The Keith Corporation, a Charlotte-based real estate developer, is working with Movement to develop the site, alongside building contractor Choate and LS3P, the architectural firm that designed Movement’s first headquarters.