Fifth Third Bank sells historic downtown Holland office building for $4.4M

Fifth Third Bank sells historic downtown Holland office building for $4.4M
Fifth Third Bank sold a prominent branch building in downtown Holland in 2022, which bank officials said created an opportunity for a better use for the community. Credit: Andy Balaskovitz, Crain’s Grand Rapids Business

HOLLAND — An iconic three-story former bank building in downtown Holland has sold for more than $4.4 million, MiBiz has learned.

The former Fifth Third Bank office at 36 E. 8th St. sold on June 17 to Holland Lakeview Holdings LLC, which is registered to the address of Warner Norcross + Judd LLP’s Grand Rapids offices. Spokespeople from both Fifth Third Bank and Warner Norcross + Judd declined to disclose the buyer, which is a client of the law firm.

The bank shut down the downtown Holland branch in January 2022 and reassigned all of the staff members to surrounding branches, Fifth Third Vice President of Marketing and Communications Scott Stenstrom told MiBiz. Fifth Third had listed the building for sale last year with NorthStar Commercial LLC for an asking price of $4.5 million. 

“Fifth Third has an incredible, lengthy legacy in West Michigan and Holland specifically going back to People’s Bank,” Stenstrom said. “We have been blessed to have a number of really beautiful properties in our possession that have all been icons in the towns they are a part of. The driver of this decision was transaction volume was going down at this branch and we could support the customer traffic easily with the five other branches in the area.”

The bank also wanted to put the property in the hands of a developer to make better use of the space, Stenstrom said.

“I would imagine that the buyer wants this property because they want to do something that is really going to make downtown Holland even more of a destination than it already is,” Stenstrom said. “Only a small segment of people who were our customers got a chance to walk into that office and see how beautiful it is.” 

Fifth Third hopes the developer brings in a business or future use so more people are able to see the inside of the historic building, he added.

The 25,000-square-foot building was constructed in 1928 and features tall, arching windows and columns on its exterior. The sale also included two other parcels: a drive-thru at 12 E. 9th St. and another property at 36 E. 9th St., according to property records.