Downtown Ann Arbor's Sudworth Building fills up

Wednesday, April 14, 2010 | Source: Concentrate

One of the few, mostly vacant old buildings in downtown Ann Arbor is now one of the many full, renovated structures. The Sudworth Building has signed another tenant.

The development team called 2mission Design and Development started renovating the 3-story building at 205 E Washington two years ago. It spent $3 million to turn the old home of a mostly vacant Buddhist Temple to into a mixed-use structure housing a microbrew pub and a couple of new economy-oriented start-ups.

"We were pleased with how quickly we were able to fill it up," says Greg Lobdell, a partner with 2mission Design and Development.

Blue Tractor Brewery and BBQ opened in the ground floor last year, adding one more brewpub to downtown Ann Arbor's vibrant and growing craft-brewing scene. The second and third floors of the 10,692-square-foot building are now occupied by eSearch Vision, the Fairfood Foundation and Acclivity.

Lobdell credits the circa-1895 building's central location, loft-style office space and unique character as the reason why it leased out so quickly, especially in what is considered a tough office space market in Michigan.

"It has all of the amenities of Class A office space in a historic building in a downtown atmosphere," Lobdell says.

Lobdell and his partner, Jon Carlson, are the guys behind the renovation of the Vinology Building on Main Street and the cluster of buildings on West Washington Street that include Grizzly Peak and Zola restaurants. They also own a few other buildings in downtown Royal Oak, including the structure that houses the Bastogne Brewery.

Lobdell says they are considering tackling a few more projects in both downtowns, but are trying to rent out their last piece of office space in downtown Ann Arbor. That space is a few thousand square feet of Class A office space that served as the first downtown Ann Arbor office for Google's Adwords headquarters.

"That's the last great space we have available in downtown Ann Arbor," Lobdell says.

Source: Greg Lobdell, a partner with 2mission Design & Development
Writer: Jon Zemke