Catalytic Community Building

For the last three years, my focus has been redeveloping a 130-year old bank building. Having been vacant for several years, the building was set to be demolished to make way for a drive-thru bank branch at the center of Downtown Bay City, Michigan. Many developers looked at the building and ran the numbers; it had been rumored impossible to save. The building was well kept, but a – some would say misguided – renovation in the 1960s added a midcentury modern panel facade to the upper three floors (covering up an 1890 Romanesque Revival facade), while the lower two levels were reengineered to have a more modern look. The economics didn’t work, and the cost of the project greatly outweighed what it would appraise for once completed.