From what will be his corner office on the third floor, Bob Rich III will be able to look at two active rail lines and vehicles traveling on the I-190.
“I will have probably one of the most unique views of Buffalo,” said Rich, president and CEO of ROAR Logistics Inc., Buffalo. “It’s a view that few can see.”
ROAR handles commercial logistics for over-the-road truck clients, ocean freighters, air freight and rail.
His company had been tucked inside the Buffalo Grand Hotel – formerly Adam’s Mark – for years but now the company will move to a new headquarters building on Exchange Street.
The 15,000-square-foot, $3.3 million building should be ready by February. It’s just east of the new Amtrak station under construction on Exchange Street.
Rail accounts for approximately 45 percent of ROAR’s business. Trucking clients make up 50 percent, with the remainder split between ocean and air logistics.
Items that are transported range from steel and rebar to food products and dog food.
“Just about everything you see and can think of has been part of some move that involved logistics at some point,” Rich said.
ROAR reported sales of $169.4 million in 2018 and is on pace to top $185 million this year, he said, with offices in eight cities.
When the company began a headquarters search two years ago, aggressive pitches came in from municipalities in Virginia, Arizona, Tennessee and West Virginia.
But like his father and grandfather, he wanted to stay here. Robert Rich Jr. is chairman of Rich Products Corp. and the late Robert Rich Sr. founded Rich Products locally.
“We are a Buffalo company,” he said. “We were founded here and we will grow here.”
The Buffalo office, with 55 employees, is ROAR’s largest location. The new building was designed by architectural/engineering firm Carmina Wood Morris DPC and can be expanded. Lamparelli Construction Co. is general contractor.
The building faces downtown to the west and the Larkin District to the east.
“From either direction, it offers a welcoming view of Buffalo,” Rich said.
The space will include a boardroom, gym and large kitchen. The hub of the building will be the second floor, where most workers in truck-related logistics will be based.