September 22-28, 2005
STATE TO CLAIM HOLLISTER BUILDING 1 YEAR
By Jeremy W. Steele
The state has signed a one-year lease to temporarily house some Department of Labor & Economic Growth workers in downtown Lansing’s Hollister Building.
Workers displaced by remodeling at the State Secondary Complex in Windsor Township are expected to move into the 105-year-old building by the end of the year, nearly filling the largely vacant 90,000-square-foot structure.
Boji Group, which owns the adjacent Boji Tower (formerly Michigan National Tower), bought the Hollister Building in July from Petroff Enterprises. The building, which houses several fist floor retailers, was once home to Department of Environmental Quality workers.
The state is moving into the building largely “as-is,” said Boji spokesman John Truscott said.
Boji still plans to pursue converting the six-story Hollister into a mix of residential, office and retail space, Truscott said. The state lease will build cash flow that can be used to help with planning.
Messages left with the Department of Management & Budget, which handles leases for most state agencies, were not returned by deadline.
Boji Group President Ron Boji has said his firm wants to restore Hollister’s historic exterior and build up to 20 residential loft units in the structure. The firm expected to spend about a year doing market studies and planning for the project.
Although the interior of the building was remodeled for state offices several years prior to DEQ’s departure from it, the building still needs considerable work, Truscott said.
“This is the sort of project that is a long-term project and needs a lot of architectural preservation planning with it,” he said. “It can be a fantastic building, but it’s going to take a lot of planning to do it right.”
Meanwhile, state workers this month began moving into a second Boji-owned building in downtown Lansing, Capitol View.
The Department of Community Health is leasing 78,500 square feet of space in the new office building across from the state Capitol.
About 600 DCH workers are moving to downtown offices from space at the state’s Baker-Olin Complex in north Lansing. DCH also will occupy 42,500 square feet of space in the Washington Square Building, which is owned by Gentilozzi Real Estate & Management Co.
“So a lot of moving trucks will be around here,” Truscott said.