SMITHFIELD - Mutual Builders Inc. normally builds apartment complexes in the Southeast, but now the company is building a home for itself downtown.

The company is working on a two-story, 5,600-square-foot office building at the corner of North Fourth and Bridge streets, behind the county's Land Use Center. Mutual Builders has had its headquarters in rented space on South Third Street for the past five years but now wants a home of its own.

"We've been wanting to build this for a long time," said Millard Stallings, the company's chief executive.

A recession might seem an odd time for a building company to expand -- the new building will be twice the size of the rented space. But Stallings said it's actually the best time since workers, with fewer projects elsewhere, are free to focus on the new building.

Business has picked up in recent weeks, and the project is slowing down a bit while workers get sent to three new jobs in the Carolinas, Stallings said. Still, he expects to finish the office in early January.

Stallings said the company located its headquarters in Smithfield because most of its employees live in the area. In building the new office, Stallings wanted to stay downtown.

"We just love downtown," he said.