By: Deborah Johnson Wood
It used to be a bleak surface parking lot on the Grand River’s west bank in downtown Grand Rapids. Now it’s a five-level, green office building with underground parking.
Plante & Moran’s 112 West Michigan employees moved to the third and fourth floors of 634 Front Ave. NW in early December, maintaining a 20-year presence downtown. The new location affords unobstructed views of the river and gives employees easy access to the city’s riverwalk.
“There’s an open area as you exit the building along the riverwalk and we may install some picnic tables this summer,” says George Riddering, office managing partner. “There’s a nice little bleacher area at the [nearby] fish ladder park and employees will be able to go there to watch the fisherman.”
The Christman Company built the structure to LEED specifications. LEED features include a reflective white roof to reduce energy usage and the urban heat island effect, water conservation fixtures for a 40 percent reduction in water consumption, and onsite recycling for paper and plastics.
Perhaps the biggest change for employees is the open collaborative environment.
“Our services are clustered around industries and service areas,” Riddering says. “We’ve intermingled people of different experience levels and industries because it allows everyone to see what everyone else does to help the client.”
Six informal conference spaces allow up to 10 people to work on projects. A 45-seat state-of-the-art training and audio/visual room provides room for web conferencing and meetings.
Source: George Riddering, Plante & Moran; Mary Ann Sabo, Sabo Public Relations
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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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