Grand Rapids CPA firm breathes new life into former Grandville Avenue factories

The building now known as 56 Grandville used to be two factories until a dozen years ago when they were connected and renovated into office space. Now, the Grand Rapids-based CPA and business consulting firm Beene Garter, which purchased the building last year and will move its 75 employees into it in May, has plans to rechristen the four-story structure with the company's name.

The purchase is the first time Beene Garter has owned its own offices since the company's founding 62 years ago.

"We advise our clients from time to time to own their own buildings," says Tom Rosenbach, managing partner. "Our lease (at 50 Monroe NW) was up the end of May, and we're committed to staying in downtown Grand Rapids, so since there was a good opportunity to buy, it made sense to do so."

According to Kent County property records, Beene Garter purchased the building for $4 million. Rosenbach says they've invested another $1.2 million in the renovation, which includes constructing conference rooms and kitchen/cafeteria space that Beene Garter will share with the building's only other tenant, Advantage Sales and Marketing, a national food broker that already occupies the upper floors. Creating the shared spaces frees up room for projected growth by Advantage, a company that employs 143 in West Michigan, Rosenbach says.

A number of Beene Garter's construction clients are handling the interior buildout.

"One of our biggest niches is construction and real estate, so we have a large client base of contractors and subcontractors," Rosenbach says. "We approached them all to see if we could get them some work, and I think we got about 90 percent of them something to do. Now we have competitors working side by side in this building -- mechanical, electrical, general contractors -- and they're all having fun."

Source: Tom Rosenbach, managing partner, Beene Garter; Craig Clark, Clark Communications
Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor

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