By: Deborah Johnson Wood
Nederveld Inc., a civil engineering firm, land planning, and surveying company founded 30 years ago in Hudsonville, will soon relocate to Grand Rapids’ Heartside district.
This fall, the Hudsonville and Cascade offices will both operate from 217 Grandville, bringing 35 employees downtown.
“Many people in our organization truly believe in a strong urban center,” says CEO Greg Raad. “With a strong urban center, the other centers around it feed off that and are strengthened as well. We've seen a lot of good things happen in Grand Rapids and we want to move closer and be part of that.”
The company will also relocate its survey crews and use the central location as a dispatch hub.
“People don't think of downtown Grand Rapids as an easy location to get in and out of, but we feel the proximity to US-131 and I-196 makes it very convenient for our survey crews,” says Raad.
The dispatch office will have a small presence on the main floor, while the majority of the offices will occupy nearly 10,000 square feet on the third floor. Raad plans to preserve the concrete floors and interior brick walls of the historic building, and create an open environment to promote collaboration among employees.
“We’ve been looking for space for about 11 months,” Raad says, “and we chose this location because the current revitalization in the area was encouraging to us, with the new Founders Brewing nearby, and Hopson Flats and the transit hub across the street.”
Lott3Metz created the architectural design. Orion Construction will handle the buildout.
Source: Greg Raad, Nederveld Inc.
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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