By: Deborah Johnson Wood
By the time construction of the 34-level River House Condominiums is completed at the end of next year, a big chunk of the $85 million investment will have gone into the pockets and bank accounts of over 1,000 local workers. Steady employment is the bonus for many of those contractors since the project broke ground in June 2006.
Approximately 30 subcontractors provided work crews for pouring concrete, installing mechanical and electrical equipment, setting studs, hanging sheetrock, plumbing, HVAC installation, elevator installation, masonry, and more. An estimated 95 percent of those workers are from the Grand Rapids area.
In addition, Indianapolis-based ASI, Ltd. hired some 20 local laborers to work with its three-person crew to install the specialty glass facade. The ASI employees moved to Grand Rapids three months ago to begin work, some brought their families with them, and they'll remain here through Spring 2008.
"The majority of the hourly wage is coming right back into the local economy," says Matt Larsen, project manager for Wolverine Construction Management, the construction manager for River House. "Even the guys out of Indianapolis are spending their money on rent and other things here in Grand Rapids."
Larsen was unable to say how much of the $85 million is going into the crewmembers' pockets; payment goes to the subcontractors who pay their crews and/or other subcontractors who in turn pay their crews.
"There's just too many levels of payment to know who's getting what," Larsen says.
Some 90 people are on the job site on any given day. That number will double in a month as interior work ramps up. In two months, it will triple, bringing the number to some 250 on-site workers a day.
Source: Matt Larsen, Wolverine Construction Management
Related Articles
River House to feature 34 floors of luxury condos
River House sells ‘copter’s-eye view
Michigan's tallest residential high-rise tops halfway mark in downtown Grand Rapids
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth. She can be contacted at [email protected].
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.