By: Deborah Johnson Wood
After 34 years as a marriage and family therapist, Dr. Andy Atwood changed careers and relocated his office from a classic Heritage Hill Victorian house-turned-therapy-hub to the trendy digs of Clark Place at American Seating Park on Grand Rapids’ West Side.
A co-founder of Fountain Hill Center, Dr. Atwood shifted career gears only slightly from advising families to advising families who are in business together. In October 2007, he and Dr. Greg Kuhn formed Atwood + Kuhn and converted a two-bedroom residential apartment into a two-office business advisory center.
Business thrived, but two months later, Dr. Kuhn unexpectedly passed away. Despite the struggle of losing his close friend and business partner, Dr. Atwood is moving on with the duo’s vision for helping family businesses work out communication issues, confront performance issues and resolve conflicts. Having an office in a space designed for a family to live in is a great environment for this type of work, he says.
Originally a furniture factory, the open layout of the 1,800-square-foot apartment maximizes the natural light from a wall of industrial windows. When clients open the door, they enter a spacious kitchen instead of a stuffy reception area.
“Having people walk into the kitchen is a beautiful thing,” Dr. Atwood says. “In most homes, people hang out in the kitchen. Everybody that walks through the door here goes ‘Wow, isn’t this cool?’
“I wanted an office with character, convenient parking, low cost, and I wanted to part of a community,” he says. “We looked at other spaces downtown but this was the only one that met all four criteria.”
Chris Beckering of Grubb & Ellis Paramount Commerce brokered the transaction.
Source: Dr. Andy Atwood, Andy Atwood PC
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Deborah Johnson Wood is the development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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