New tenant for Grand Rapids' Flat Iron building will take all three upper floors

Deborah Johnson Wood

The new tenant for the soon-to-be rehabilitated Flat Iron Building in downtown Grand Rapids will lease all available space above the main level, opting for all 25,000 square feet for its interior LEED renovation.

Smith Haughey Rice & Roegge announced this week that the firm will move into the building, whose new address will be 100 Monroe Center NE, next summer, following an extensive interior renovation.

In 2009, Locus Development purchased the historic four-story Flat Iron, Herkner and Groskopfs buildings that make up the property, and plan to connect the three buildings' interiors on the second through fourth floors and restore the exteriors for LEED certification. The project will run about $4.5 million.

"We have been looking for space alternatives for a year and considered staying in the Calder Plaza Building where we've been for the past 25 years," says Bill Scarbrough, Smith Haughey COO. "Our group coalesced around an adaptive reuse project in an older building and zeroed in on the Flat Iron as a major alternative to where we are."

The interior renovation will preserve as much of the original brick and wood as possible, and will incorporate a mix of open floor plans and private offices. An extensive use of interior glass will allow daylight into the office spaces.

"This is a significant renovation and a great thing for Grand Rapids, and we're happy to have Smith Haughey as our tenants," says John Green, a partner with Andy Winkel in Locus Development. "The only remaining space is 2,400 square feet in the old Blake's Turkey space. We have received a number of inquiries but we're waiting for the right tenant. We would love to see a bank or a retail shop there."

In July, the Grand Rapids Downtown Development Authority awarded Locus Development three $75,000 Building Reuse and Incentive Program grants to help with the renovation.

Design Plus will create the LEED interior design. Wolverine Construction Management will handle interior construction. Cornerstone Architects and Orion Construction will do the core and shell work.

Source: Bill Scarbrough, Smith Haughey Rice & Roegge; John Green, Locus Development

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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Development News tips can be sent to [email protected].