By Joe Boomgaard | MiBiz
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GRAND RAPIDS — Mary Reagan Shapton, principal of Reagan Marketing + Design, figured her company was ready to take a risk and buy its own building back in early 2010, but even she wasn’t quite sure that the inky depths of a long-forgotten, dilapidated print shop could be converted into office space fit for her modern design firm.

Mary Reagan Shapton, the founder of Reagan Marketing + Design, decided to rehab a blighted former print shop building on Wealthy Street in Grand Rapids to house her company. The facility was dark and dirty when she first saw it, but the design team was able to open up all the formerly bricked up windows to let a great deal of natural light in. PHOTOS: JOE BOOMGAARD

The 20-year-old company had rented office space on North Monroe Avenue for 18 years, and faced signing another long-term lease and having to reorganize its space — or look for something new. The timing and the real estate market made it attractive for the company to buy its own building, said Reagan Shapton.

“We were in a good position,” Reagan Shapton told MiBiz. “We wanted to do the project right and make a smart business decision and look forward another 18 to 20 years.”

She enlisted the help of Chad Sytsma at Griffin Properties and architect Greg Metz of Lott3Metz in February of 2010 as the search for a new location ramped up. Eventually, the decision came down to the Wealthy Street location and another site north of downtown Grand Rapids.

Historically, the facility had been three separate buildings that served as a print shop, dairy and gas station that were later connected. However, by the 2000s, the site was mostly vacant.

Reagan Shapton admits there were challenges to overcome when she first saw the building. She said it was hard to imagine how a dark, dirty former printing shop and dairy could suit the needs of her 20-person design firm, which was coming out of a bright, open office. Metz said most of the windows have been blocked up or boarded over the years. The space, as it sat, didn’t look very inviting, but he said he could see it had potential to work for the firm.

“The biggest challenge for Greg was to convince me on it — it was so dark,” she said.

The site is actually three buildings from 900-916 Wealthy Street that were connected together over time. The 900 Wealthy site had been a gas station since the mid-1920s, but the existing structure was built in 1948 as Freeman’s Sunoco station. The building next door at 912 Wealthy started in 1935 as Vonk Diary and a decade later became home to a candy manufacturer. The structure at 916 Wealthy started as a print shop in 1952.

A connector building between 912 and 916 was later added as a print shop that took over the entire complex. The site continued to be used for printing through the 1990s, but by 2005, it was mostly vacant.

“It looked bad. It was dark — there were almost no windows, (and) there was no daylight,” Metz said. “I had to try to convince Mary of the amount of daylight the space could have. I felt good about it. I felt it was something that she would really like. It could be like their old office with a lot of daylight space, but it was just gritty and dirty.”

Metz’s vision was to open the blocked up windows, convert overhead doors to window space, and let in as much natural light as possible. For example, the amount of natural light in the building after the windows were reinstated convinced the team to add a smaller touch-down conference room in what had been planned as a coat closet. The only space in all the space without a view of the outside is the men’s restroom.

What could have been throw-away space in the depths of the basement was eventually turned into offices for the video and motion graphics team after Reagan Shapton bought into Metz’s idea to cut a hole in the main floor near the south exterior wall and a large window. The result was that the team’s offices were moved from the main floor to the basement without them feeling disconnected. Enough light comes through the large south-facing window that the space doesn’t feel like a basement.

“Greg could see it. We all felt the space (would work), but it was hard to visualize,”

Reagan Shapton said. After some convincing, “We could say, ‘Yes, this will be really cool when it gets done.’ When we put the plans on paper, we could see what this would be.”

The project involved replacing all the outdated HVAC equipment, a new white roof to prevent heat islanding, removing some asbestos, and cleaning up some existing ground contamination.

Metz and Reagan Shapton worked to ensure sustainable building principles were incorporated throughout the project, although no third-party certification will be sought. Importantly, the project focused on tightening the building envelope and adding more insulation to make the building efficient.

“We’ve been in business for 10 years, and this is one of our better buildings. We’re very proud of it as a firm. It looks fantastic,” Metz said.

Reuse was also key throughout the site, perhaps most visibly in the wooden steps from the main level in the connector building to the existing mezzanine. The team salvaged old fir ceiling beams, re-planed them and installed them as steps. Other reused wood is being made into a table for the porch, which was converted from the old loading dock.

Reagan Shapton also opted to keep the existing floors by polishing them with

a chemical-free, stone-on-stone process. “They got a beautiful floor and used no dangerous chemicals to do it,” Metz said.

In designing the space, Metz said he paid attention to the Reagan Marketing + Design’s culture, which in part led him to the property in the first place because of the nature of the surrounding Wealthy Street neighborhood’s shops, restaurants and residents and the fact that most of the employees already frequented the area.

The property spans from Wealthy Street to Sigsbee Street, with most of the southern portion of the property left as green space. Reagan Shapton plans to build a large garden there next year.

“It’s a great community investment. It’s not just owning a building. It works out with our whole lifestyle,” Reagan Shapton said.

The 0.8-acre brownfield project secured full federal and state historic preservation credits and was helped along by funding secured through the Economic Development Foundation, funds that went toward the project in general and to the environmental clean up of some leftover contamination from the gas station site.

The former gas station portion houses a wooden boat rebuilding business owned by Reagan Shapton’s husband, Bob Shapton.