Knapp’s awakening

In short, the Eyde Co.´s gamble on quality office space in the iconic 190,000-square-foot Knapp´s building, for much too long a downtown Lansing embarrassment, is unfolding slowly and sustainably, reflecting project manager Nick Eyde´s philosophy of “under-promising and over-delivering.”

The Eyde Co. moved from its East Lansing headquarters during the first week in March, Eyde said. It occupies about 9,000 square feet — about half of the building´s fourth floor. CGI Group Inc. is also on the fourth floor. Their offices line the perimeter of the building, facing inward to a large open atrium. This is the definition of Class-A space.

It´s the third floor where the Lansing State Journal is setting its sights. Before the newspaper downsized by eliminating its printing operation, production jobs and circulation department, and, of course, the annual reduction in newsroom staff, the space available in the Knapp´s Centre would have been too small.

Now it should be ample.

Representatives from the LSJ have made multiple tours of the building and have talked with other businesses located there. The move is related to disposing of the newspaper´s property on Lenawee Street, which is for sale.

The Eyde Co. has expressed interest in the site. The asking price for the 70,989-square-foot building is $1.6 million, according to sales agent CBRE | Martin. The site features both office and warehouse space as well as ample parking. But the location adjacent to the CATA bus station has been a problem, according to developers. The area can be sketchy at times. Also, the LSJ building is oddly configured, reflecting the mix of press and production facilities once located there.

Another LSJ note: On the west side of town, at the sprawling production facility between Canal Road and the interstate, the newspaper is working to remove its three-story printing press. Most of it will be sold for scrap, as were decommissioned presses removed from the Lenawee Street building and at the Delta facility a few years ago. The newspaper is now printed in Walker, about 75 miles to the west. This is where the Grand Rapids Press and other MLive newspapers are published by a sister company.

The LSJ abandoned its communitybased production after Gannett ordered the change. The travel time to the press site north of Grand Rapids is the reason that late sports scores are often missing from the newspaper.

The move to slick new offices in the Knapp´s Centre reflects what is happening throughout the industry as newspaper companies deal with the shift of advertising and readership to digital displays rather than paper. Newspapers in the Gannett chain are configuring their downsized newsrooms to accommodate smaller staffs and digital news.

In this embrace of all things digital, the LSJ will be joining rapidly growing information technology provider Dewpoint in the Knapp´s Centre. The company with 110 employees — 50 to 60 of them on the second floor — occupies about 16,000 square feet and is looking for another 10,000, said Ken Theis, Dewpoint president and chief executive officer. The company works with businesses and other clients to help them manage their data needs and processes.

Theis, who before Dewpoint led the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget, worked in the Knapp´s building during its dark days, when the state leased space there. He described it as grim, unlike the lightened, modern quarters where Dewpoint now operates.

The still unanswered question at Knapp´s Centre is what happens with the first floor. Eyde said there is interest in the space, but nothing firm yet. Perhaps by the summer. He wants a restaurant, but the right restaurant and said he is willing to wait.

Across the street a more immediate and accessible food service is shaping up in a building the Eyde Co. bought to complement its Knapp´s Centre investment. Domino´s Pizza will open its first area “Pizza Theater” in the location, which previously housed a book store and newsstand and before that the venerable Mole Hole gift shop.

The Pizza Theater is Domino´s way of reshaping its business, which has focused on delivery staged from utilitarian properties. The Ann Arbor-based company felt that its products were innovative, but its sites weren´t inviting for the customers who declined delivery. The redesigned stores are more welcoming, more customer centric.

Success with Knapp´s Centre is helping solidify commerce on the south reach of Washington Square. A new restaurant, the Crafty Palate, promising breakfast, lunch and Sunday brunch, will open in the vacant Mediteran location. Further south, a secondhand store has located between the Palace of Jamaica take-out restaurant the Downtown Party Store. Lake Trust Credit Union plans a residential and retail development at the corner of Capitol Avenue and Lenawee. And a block away will be reuse of the LSJ site.

Will downtown will link up with REO Town? Eventually. Maybe. Progress is slow but promising. Next challenge? The vacant DeLuxe Inn site.