By: Deborah Johnson Wood
For years, husband and wife duo Rick Powell and Behnje Masson have had a wish list of “perfect things” to enhance their Yoga studio: a larger space to teach Tai Chi, room for event gatherings, green space and a place for them to live—all in one location.
And now, after eight years of running their successful From The Heart Yoga Center at 940 E. Fulton in Grand Rapids, the couple has found everything on their wish list in a vacant building at 714 Wealthy St.
The two-story brick building has 2,500-square-feet on the main floor, which will be divided into offices for massage therapists Jock Smith and Kim Stinson, a reception area, and two studios that can become one 1,800-square-foot studio. Upstairs is space for two 1,250-square-foot residential condos. And out back? An enclosed yard, viewable from both studios.
“I’ve been teaching Tai Chi here,” says Powell of the Fulton studio, “but Yoga takes priority. The second studio allows us to expand the Tai Chi business and hold classes simultaneously.”
Powell and Masson considered the Wealthy building 13 years ago, but it needed too much structural work to make it safe. The building’s current owners have done that work and the building is now a sort of blank slate, ready for redesign.
“We’re hoping to have it done for two planned October events,” Powell says, “and to be open for classes in November.”
From The Heart Yoga specializes in Anusara Yoga. Behnje Masson is the only certified Anusara teacher in West Michigan.
“This opportunity was really just the right thing and the right timing,” Powell adds, “and it fulfills all of our wish list checkboxes.”
Source: Rick Powell, From The Heart Yoga Center
Deborah Johnson Wood is the development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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