By: Deborah Johnson Wood
Dan Kalleward researched over 70 cities across the U.S. as possible locations to launch his technology company, The Drawing Board. He settled on a 4,200-square-foot former law office at 190 Monroe NW, across from the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel.
“Grand Rapids is large enough that every resource you could ever want is only a few blocks away, yet it’s not so gigantic that you're lost in the crowd,” Kalleward says.
Kalleward, 23, was raised in Portage and graduated from Holland-based Hope College, but says he was only in Grand Rapids twice before moving away to live in Atlanta and Chicago.
“I was already familiar with this area but never gave Grand Rapids the credit it deserved,” he says.
Technical Manager Chris Mwakasisi and Community Manager Jay Harnish (also the house manager at DeVos Place and DeVos Performance Hall) have joined Kalleward in the business endeavor: a web site designed to centralize all e-commerce for web shoppers.
Kalleward did the office’s interior demolition and rebuild himself, redesigning several smaller rooms into one large work space.
“I've ripped up 4,200 square feet of carpet, broken down 10 walls, cut down hundreds of two-by-fours, taken down 2,000 feet of ceiling grid, and filled over 100 industrial size bags with scraps, and carried them down four floors one-by-one,” he says. “I've also used many, many Thermacare Heat Bandages!”
A wall of windows frames the decorous facade of the former Pantlind Hotel to the west; more windows line the north and east walls. Kalleward estimates he’s renovated the space for just $11,000.
“It’s going to look like a very, very comfortable home,” he says.
Chris Beckering of Grubb & Ellis Paramount Commerce brokered the transaction.
Source: Dan Kalleward, The Drawing Board
Related Articles: Read the article about Chris Mwakasisi From Scratch: whiteMAKO published in the June 21, 2007 edition of Rapid Growth’s sister publication, Metromode.
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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