One Independence Township resident is investing in his community.
Eight years ago, Mark Wayne and his wife Kerri were looking for a good community to raise their new and growing family. (The two have been married for 13 years and have two children; seven-year-old Michael and nine-year-old Karley.)
At the time, they longed for a neighborhood filled with youngsters to play with their own children; a community which they could support and involve themselves in; and, a home they could settle down in for years.
The search brought them to Clarkston. While visiting the area, the Waynes stopped at Depot Park. A conversation with a friendly local resident led to an invitation to attend the annual Fourth of July parade.
After attending the patriotic affair, Mark said, of Clarkston, “We were hooked. This was the community in which we wanted to raise our children.”
Mark and Kerri wasted no time. The very next day they started building a house in Deerwood.
In 1998, Mark founded Freedom One Financial Group.
His original plan was to strategically place his company office to be within a 20-minute circle from home, leading him to open an office in Troy. Soon, however, the drive became too time consuming with the heavy traffic incurred daily.
“Clarkston is a phenomenal town in which to raise a family and has a growing business community,” he said. “I’m a big believer in north Oakland County.” So, Mark made the decision to relocate his company to Independence Township.
This way, he can “maintain a higher quality of life with his family,” by being closer to home.
Having a difficult time finding available office space suitable for Freedom One’s needs, Mark said it made sense to build his own office. One day, passing property for sale on M-15, north of I-75, “I said, ‘boy we can put a beautiful office building on that setting.'”
Currently under construction, is a two-story 35,000 square foot building with additional underground parking and a 4,000 square foot storage facility, making it the largest Class-A office building in Independence Township.
Freedom One will occupy the second floor of the building, and first floor square footage of up to 17,000 square feet is presently being pre-leased, and will be configured to the tenant’s specifications.
“I’m looking for other people like me who live in north Oakland County and don’t want to make that drive to a traditional business center in Troy or Southfield.”
The new building, slated for occupancy in September, will also feature a 1,100 square foot full service exercise gym and health facility.
Mark has insisted that particular attention be paid to utilizing only the highest quality of finishes within the building. And after completion, the office center will be maintained with the highest of standards as well.
One of the main reasons Mark is looking forward to coming to Clarkston is to specialize Freedom One’s large philanthropy program locally. “I look forward to moving to Clarkston to focus our efforts within the community.”
When Mark founded Freedom One his goal was to be exactly what they’ve become today, Michigan’s largest full service 401(k) plan provider.
Freedom One oversees a billion dollars of retirement plan assets for more than 350 corporate clients in 16 states totaling more than 28,000 participants.
“Many people ask ‘how can we be the largest if I’ve never heard of you?'”
That’s because Freedom One is exclusively endorsed by associations including the Michigan Dealers Association, Michigan Manufacturers Association and the Michigan Tooling Association for whom they provide 401(k) plans to the members. For example, there are many auto dealers in Clarkston, alone, who are Freedom One clients endorsing the company as a 401(k) provider for their employees.
Freedom One has also held the title of one of Michigan’s fastest growing 100 companies, awarded by The Detroit News three years in a row.
The growth has continued to spread nationally as well with the addition of 70 clients from the California Auto Dealers Association. Additionally, Freedom One will add approximately 40 auto dealers from the Missouri Auto Dealers Association within the next year.
Freedom One has been featured in Crain’s business magazine as a Top 10 Money Manager and Mark was named one of the top 40 business owners under age 40.
For leasing information call Stacy Green at (248) 331-0215 or David Greene at (248) 331-0206.