I was thinking about all the parallels between The Exchange tower and the Warner Building in Grand Rapids. There are a lot of similarities, here's a few I thought of quickly:
- Both are being built by the same Construction Manager (Orion Construction)
- Both are 15 stories
- Both are post-pensioned concrete structures
- Both have 6 or 7 floors of parking deck topped by Class A office space (The Exchange also has a housing component)
- Both are approximately 300,000 SF total (290,000 - Warner vs. 335,000 SF - The Exchange)
- Both broke ground in 2017, within a few months of each other
- Both will have Chemical Bank as an anchor tenant and both have the potential for restaurant space
- Both are positioned on tight, corner lots in highly-trafficked pedestrian areas
- Both are being built on land that served as a surface parking lot for about 50 years
- Both received Brownfield Redevelopment Tax Credits and numerous other community revitalization grants / incentives
- Both are the tallest commercial structures currently under construction in their respective cities
Some of this isn't surprising, given that it's the same CM and similar geographic location, but the coincidences are still interesting. Obviously there are differences too - the biggest being that The Exchange has market-rate apartments, and the Warner has a separate 12 story hotel planned for the site directly next door.
Anyway, it should be neat to watch these two rise in tandem.
Warner (taller of the two, in background):
Image Source:
Fox17 News Online
The Exchange:
Image Source:
MLive