Visuals by Hillary Ehlen and The Promersberger Company
While Downtown Fargo has plenty to offer both in terms of location and amenities, it’s not for everyone. For a company looking for a little slower pace and a touch of rural North Dakota to boot, Farmstead Office Park at Rocking Horse Farm in South Fargo might be worth a look.
TOUR GUIDES
THE 3 BUILDINGS
While only three of the structures in the Farmstead Office Park have been completed—another two have been designed—the office park will eventually house eight farm-style office buildings on roughly 10 acres of land. The park, which will feature roughly 80,000 square feet of total office space, sits in the middle of the larger Rocking Horse Farm development’s 160 acres and will be geared toward seamlessly combining residential and commercial life.
While the original office-park development began in the early 2000s, it was reinvigorated in 2015 when 136 residential lots were platted and made available as the residential portion got underway. To date, more than 30 houses are occupied or under construction.
The idea was that someone living in the Rocking Horse Farm development could not only have their home but also do business in the same neighborhood.
1. The Red Barn
Specs: ~8,500 leasable square feet, fully leased
The flagship building of Farmstead Office Park, the Red Barn was completed in 1999. As Rocking Horse Farm Owner Ken Promersberger explains, they wanted the office park to be a kind of indigenous homage to North Dakota and wanted the Red Barn to be the “icon of the development.”
When they bought the land, the only other building in the area was KFNW, a Christian radio station that still sits just south of 52nd Avenue.
“When we bought the property,” Promersberger says, “there wasn’t a tree on site. We planted all of these and even built a wildlife pond.”
To give you some idea of what a finished office setup would look like, we took a tour through Fargo-based marketing agency The Promersberger Company’s headquarters on the first floor of the Red Barn.
While the 13-person Promersberger team occupies the whole first floor, there are four other tenants upstairs:
- Precision Partners
- Greenco
- Industrial Construction Services (ICS)
- Anderson Consulting
Lounge, complete with a custom-made skid-steer coffee table (with a wood-burned centerpiece made by none other than Rocking Horse Farm’s Marketing Manager Shaniah Kaiser—one of our tour guides)
2. The White Barn
Specs: ~13,000 leasable square feet, furnished, available January 2018
Originally built as the corporate headquarters for Titan Machinery, the White Barn subsequently housed DMI Industries and Doosan Bobcat after Titan moved to a new West Fargo space.
An agriculture aesthetic permeates every part of the office park, the White Barn being no exception.
Instead of a lobby, guests can get a cup of coffee while they wait at the “parts counter,” complete with a full kitchen in back.
3. The machine shed
Specs: ~8,400 leasable square feet, fully leased
The Machine Shed is designed to emulate the look of a building that could house machinery—all the way down to the smoked exterior windows.
“With these buildings, we’re trying to make them look fairly authentic—not like Disneyland,” Promersberger explains. “When we first built the Red Barn, you’d be driving down 52nd Avenue and would say, ‘Oh, there’s a barn,’ and wouldn’t realize until you got closer that it wasn’t a real, working barn. We’re trying to emulate a farmstead without getting too cute with it.”
While the interior is still a work in progress, the Machine Shed will have its first tenant in January 2018. Promersberger will be announcing the new tenant soon.
COMING SOON:
Designed & Not Yet Completed
Not Yet Designed
Farmstead Office Park at Rocking Horse Farm
RockingHorsefarm.com/OfficePark-Overview
To learn more about any of these spaces, contact:
Ken Promersberger
[email protected]
701-356-0219
Shaniah Kaiser
[email protected]
701-566-7877
