Integrated Architecture (IA) has been selected to design Gordon Food Service's new Wyoming, MI headquarters building. The 382,000 sq. foot facility will be the home to over 1,000 employees and will be designed to enhance productivity and inspire innovation.   The GFS project is one of several that is keeping IA busy and growing according to Mike Corby, FAIA Executive VP. The increased workload has led to several recent hires, "mostly professionals, engineers, architects and designers," and the firm is still in need of a few more designers. Corby cites IA's reputation as an award-winning, sustainable design firm as one the keys to attracting talent to West Michigan.   "We look for designers who are very passionate about their work and love what they do," he says. Corby elaborates, saying that IA is very finicky when recruiting talent. More specifically, he says they look for "professionals with similar passion and a strong focus on design based on user experience and what makes people more productive -- not just doing interesting architecture, but what makes the experience better for the user." To learn more about IA, you can visit their website here. Source: Mike Corby Integrated Architecture Writer: John Rumery, Innovation and Jobs editor

Planning began in 2004, construction in 2005 and this summer and fall will mark the opening of the final piece of the $225 million Michigan Street Development Project -- a project that has been a driving force behind the creation of a healthcare Mecca along Grand Rapids' Medical Mile. Since breaking ground in 2005, Michigan Street Development Corporation, a 50/50 partnership of RDV Corp. and The Christman Company, has constructed the $90 million Secchia Center campus of the Michigan State University College Of Human Medicine, the $92 million Lemmen-Holton Cancer Pavilion, 25 Michigan, and now 35 Michigan, which will house outpatient services and labs for Helen DeVos Children's Hospital.With 200,000 square feet spread over seven levels, 35 Michigan will consolidate pediatric outpatient services that now extend over a two-mile stretch of Michigan St., says Bridget Menzel, who oversees operations of the children's hospital substations. The hospital, located across the street, connects to 35 Michigan via an elevated, enclosed pedestrian bridge over Michigan Street. "(The building) will have administrative space for physicians and their support team, an outpatient lab and a pediatric sleep studies area," Menzel says. "Plus we'll have neurology, nephrology, infectious disease, pulmonary, rheumatology and orthopedic practices. We (want) to bring everyone together so we can have our consultative physicians in one area for patients who access multiple practices."Joe Hooker, development services manager for The Christman Company, says 25 Michigan and 35 Michigan connect via a two-story atrium that will be a gathering point for a food court serving patients, visitors and medical staff. Six retail bays provide space for various restaurants to offer their wares. "The building will be completed in phases from July through the third quarter of the year as we bring in the tenants," Hooker says. "The first to open will be the food court in July. Right now, we're excited about putting these final pieces of this entire project together."URS is the architect. The Christman Company is the construction manager. Source: Bridget Menzel, Helen DeVos Children's Hospital; Joe Hooker, The Christman CompanyWriter: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News EditorRelated Articles The Helen DeVos Children's Hospital is the New Kid on the Block

Grand Rapids' Madison Square business district at the corner of Madison Avenue SE and Hall St. SE could be on the verge of getting its only sit-down eatery, part of a coordinated response to neighborhood demand. The proposed B & W Breakfast Bar could open in April as part of a $1.7 million renovation of a century-old storefront at 1167 Madison. The project, spearheaded by LINC Community Revitalization, Inc. (formerly Lighthouse Communities), includes LINC's Development Center containing administrative offices, a retail incubator, a co-working space and a community police station. Robert Ball, owner of Grand Rapids' Southern Fish Fry and a partner in the new venture, will manage the restaurant, says spokesperson T. A. El Amin, a consultant on the project."We're aiming for a home-style place, kind of a combination of Waffle House and Cracker Barrel," El Amin says. "We're looking at breakfast and lunch to start, and we'd like to be open from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. If it goes well, we could add dinner hours, and if that goes well, it could become 24-hour."El Amin says the focus will be a country-style breakfast and lunch menu with favorites like waffles, bacon and eggs, southern grits, and "a little bit of soul food," as well as heart healthy choices such as turkey sausage, fresh salads and homemade soups. The 1,500-square-foot space will seat 40. Attracting a sit-down restaurant to Madison Square is part of a broader push to fill gaps in the business district's offerings, an initiative that began with a neighborhood charrette in 2005. "This is one of the fastest growing areas around and the region is well thought out and well planned, except for the core city," El Amin says. "If we can get something going in the neighborhoods around the core city, we're going to have something really great. "The next generation will inherit whatever we do now," he adds. "We'll teach them how to grow it and expand it and there'll be no stopping us with what we can accomplish."Source: T. A. El Amin, El Amin Associates; LINC Community Revitalization, Inc.Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News EditorRelated ArticlesMadison Square takes next step toward Corridor Improvement DistrictMadison Square business incubator has community backing for $1.7M project

A new international group will give Wolverine Worldwide brands access and exposure to new markets. According to excerpts from Mlive: The Rockford-based company, which sells Hush Puppies, Merrell and Chaco shoes, is creating an international group to market its 12 brands outside North America. Longtime Wolverine executive Bill Brown will lead the new international unit. He previously oversaw the Heritage Brand Group. You can read the entire story here:

A report on WZZM-13 says three Grand Rapids Public Schools could become apartment buildings pending final negotions with an interested Troy, Mich. developer.According to excerpts from the story:Three former Grand Rapids schools may become new apartment buildings. A developer based in Troy, wants to buy Oakdale, Lexington and Eastern Elementary schools and turn them into rental properties. The developer has offered $1.6 million for the three buildings which were listed for a combines $2.1 million. School officials say the offer is in the early stages but it is a valid proposal.Read the complete story here.

The Steelcase-outfitted co-working space, 654 Croswell (East Grand Rapids), was featured in Rapid Growth Media last January. Its managers say one of the biggest lessons learned during its first year of operations is that if you want to create a space where people are interested in working, it has to be dynamically managed. Although "co-working is exploding over the country," Grand Rapids is still adapting to the concept, according to Jeffrey Schutte, a member of the leadership team at Turnstone and at 654 Croswell, citing an increased number of inquiries about the space. Lisa Mead, service delivery leader, identified two insights from their year one experience. "First is to be more flexible in our offering," she says. Mead cites the opportunities to adjust hours and rates on a seasonal and 'pop-up' basis, such as during spring break, when parents' home office routines become disrupted.  The second insight is a bit more complicated. "We don't want to look like corporate America, but we want to still provide the useful gems that make office work effective," Mead states.   As an example, she points to the many service and volunteer opportunities that are traditionally organized at work that can be missed at co-working spaces and home offices. Both Schutte and Mead remain very optimistic about the future of co-working in West Michigan, and rightfully so. In a recent report published by Intuit, 20 demographic, economic and technological trends that will be shaping consumer and business behavior in the next decade were identified. One that was highlighted was the continued growth of "third places," such as co-workiing spaces and rent-by-the hour offices, both part of the bigger picture of the reinvention of the workplace.  Schutte concludes, "I haven't been in a city anywhere in the country where co-working  is not a hot topic." To learn more about 654 Croswell, you can visit their website here. Source: Lisa Mead and Jeffrey Schutte; Turnstone and the 654 Croswell team Writer: John Rumery, Innovation and Jobs editor.