Adam Bronson & the Bay Professional Building

“Woodworth Commercial is based out of Owosso, Michigan, and was founded by Randy Woodworth. We discovered the Allen Medical Building, fell in love with it immediately and closed the deal. There’s so much potential there to become a home for both well-established businesses as well as an incubator for businesses just starting out.

The building has 56,000 square feet. It's already divided into roughly 40 different individual suites, with plenty of water, drains, and power throughout. All the essentials are there, so if you have the vision, you can imagine various businesses, such as an accounting firm or an artistic therapy center, utilizing the space. It's a blank canvas with all the bones in place. Randy has developed at least a dozen buildings in the Shiawassee County market, so he's experienced in transforming forgotten old buildings into vibrant spaces. Together, we can see how to reconfigure the space to create something unique and appealing for Bay County.

We've received a lot of positive feedback from Bay City, particularly the west side. Initially, we envisioned the building for business professionals, like accountants and lawyers, but we were surprised when the wellness industry showed great interest. We received calls from hairstylists, massage therapists, and psychological services who all wanted space immediately, as there's nothing quite like this in the area.”

“As soon as we bought the building, we knew something drastic had to happen. We started with repainting the entire exterior, we invested in new landscaping to make the place more welcoming. We spent around $200,000 to improve the building's appearance and start marketing it. Then, once it started to get colder, we moved on to the interior flooring and painting.

We already have 26% occupancy. The most notable business is Replenish Juice Bar, owned by husband-wife duo Greg Buzzard of That Guy's BBQ. They're actually in there painting right now. Upstairs, we have a Salon Suite called Monarch Suites, which is around 3,600 square feet. It's a former doctor's office that we've converted into a Salon Suite. We hope to have it completed by May 1st. Additionally, we just signed Total Kidney Care and Affordable Hearing Store is joining in the same wing. Not to mention, there are many individual stylists and massage therapists throughout the building. There's also Griffin Transit, a taxi service, and we have more businesses in the pipeline.

There's one interesting idea: a mocktail bar. It's a place where you can go and have business meetings, enjoy cocktails without alcohol. They say there aren't many places for non-drinkers to have a good time, so I love the idea, and we're working through the details on that one.

We have suites ranging from 200 square feet, for just one single private room, to 11,000 square feet if you need a whole wing. All utilities, except internet, are included in your rent. We're very flexible with tenants and can finance the build-out into their lease. For example, if you need $2,000 in build-out, we can do the build-out, and you pay it back to us over the term of your lease. We offer options like that."

—Adam Bronson, Woodworth Commercial, Bay Professional Building