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Granger Expands Connections
Lansing State Journal, A.J. Evenson, November 2, 1999 - Gary Granger knew downtown
Lansing's legislative office building would turn heads - but for more than a design
offering 110 separate views of the Capitol.
Granger's project is a different kind of architectural wonder. The kind that's completed
in half the time expected.
It's among Granger Group of Companies' founding principles: Consolidate
traditional
development - a multistep procedure from vision to design to construction
to
maintenance - into a seamless process offered through a network of partners.
The
concept saves time and,
therefore, money, Granger said.
Now his company is going one step further. On Monday, the two-year-old development
firm merged with two real estate companies, including Coldwell Banker, one of the
nation's largest operations.
It's the latest pairing of a local development firm and national real estate operation.
Martin Commercial Properties in East Lansing merged with CB Commercial Ellis in
1998, promising its own benefits to local economic development.
``The market need I've seen is for a full-service, customized approach to development,''
said Granger, a former president of Granger Construction, a Lansing-based,
family-owned business he left in 1997 to start Granger Group.
The $30 million legislative office building, at North Capitol Avenue and Ottawa Street, is
the first example of Granger Group's potential.
The 14-story, 295,000- square-foot structure took 13 months to complete.
The process was improved by bringing together develop ers, financial backers, building
trades specialists and real estate experts early in the process. That allowed developers to
more efficiently order heating, ventilation and cooling equipment already pieced together
directly from the factory. That cut installation time.
Granger's estimated savings on the project: $5 million.
Granger's ties to both Summit Real Estate, a year-old Okemos-based firm, and Coldwell
Banker became official Monday.
The affiliation will allow Granger to tap into Coldwell's network of services, including a
pipeline of potential companies looking for areas in which to expand.
That will mean additional exposure for mid-Michigan.
``We've always felt like this market was underserved,'' said Todd Brunst, Summit's
president and chief executive officer.
Emerson Ohl, former director of economic development for the city of Lansing, calls it
``one-stop shopping.''
``It's a concept that moves the construction industry and the real estate industry hand-
in-hand,'' said Ohl, who has worked with Granger.
Martin Commercial Properties' merger last year with CB Commercial Partners Inc., the
world's largest commercial real estate service provider and once an arm of Coldwell
Banker, was for survival, Martin officials said.
They say corporate America had moved toward a trend of dealing more exclusively with
national real estate companies when searching for new office, industrial and retail space.
