The Parker Group officially opened with a ribbon cutting. The new office is in the Pikus Building in downtown Milford
Dustin Parker and his wife, Rachel, initially planned to open a real estate and mortgage broker business in the Josephine Keir building on South Walnut Street. The couple was almost finished with the historic preservation portion of renovating the building, which took about 17 months, when they were approached to sell it.
“Zack and Marissa [King] approached us and said ‘hey, we really want to have that building,’” Dustin said. “Around the same time, we were approached by Dan Bond who let us know this space was available. So, we sold the building and began the process of opening here.”
The new location is in the Pikus Building, an historic structure on the corner of Northwest Front and North Walnut Streets. For decades, the location was the site of Lou’s Bootery, a popular shoe store owned by the Pikus family. After the death of Skip Pikus, Bond purchased the building, gutted the interior and created apartments on the top floors with a retail location on the first floor.
“We did the interior remodeling ourselves,” Rachel said. “We were fortunate it was mostly cosmetic things. It was mostly painting and cosmetic stuff.” On one wall of the space, there are now offices where Rachel explained previously had one office and a larger area with half walls. A mural on one wall welcomes visitors to the reception area and a greenery covered wall makes up the back of the space.
“We want to welcome Dustin and Rachel here,” Angel Hicks, President of the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Milford, said. “We’re excited to have them in Milford. I think this is the largest ribbon cutting I have ever been to.”
Mayor Archie Campbell also welcomed the Parker Group to Milford.
“We’re so excited to be part of the Milford community,” Dustin told those gathered for the ribbon cutting. “It’s a vibrant and growing community. We so many projects going on all around us and Dan Bond does such an amazing job of building renovation. He has been a good friend. We look forward to many years of prosperity and helping other people here in this community.”
The Pikus Building was a Downtown Development District project. Bond was awarded grant funding for the complete historic preservation of the building which was built in the 1840s. It is believed the be the oldest building in the downtown area. After the death of Pikus in 2015, the building sat empty for over a year and had been in poor condition before his death. After the renovation, the location was rented to Loft Realty who moved out of Milford in 2022.
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