Hinman to acquire Fifth Third Bank building in downtown Kalamazoo

Hinman to acquire Fifth Third Bank building in downtown Kalamazoo
Hinman Co. is buying the Fifth Third Bank building in downtown Kalamazoo.

KALAMAZOO — The Hinman Co. is expanding its property holdings with the acquisition of a downtown Kalamazoo building.

The Portage-based investor and developer of commercial real estate announced Friday that it has purchased the Fifth Third Bank building at 136 E. Michigan Ave.

“Having been invested in downtown Kalamazoo for many decades, we are proud to bring this iconic building into our portfolio,” Roger Hinman, CEO of the Hinman Co., said in a statement.

The 15-story, 80,000-square-foot building is located in the Central Business District of downtown Kalamazoo, near the intersection of Michigan Avenue and Portage Street. According to a statement, Hinman Co. will oversee the management and leasing of the building, and Fifth Third Bank will continue to be a tenant, with the aim of keeping the building as a multi-tenant office building.

Built in 1929, the art deco-style building was designed by Weary and Alford of Chicago, who later designed Kalamazoo City Hall at 241 W. South St. It was originally constructed for the Kalamazoo Trust and Savings Bank. It has been under the ownership of the American National Bank, Old Kent Bank and most recently Fifth Third Bank.

A purchase price for the facility was not immediately available.

Fifth Third Bank in recent years has sought to sell off some of its property holdings. The regional bank in 2016 sold its campus in downtown Grand Rapids to developer CWD Real Estate Investment LLC.

As MiBiz reported earlier this month, CWD is selling a portion of the campus, a 100,000-square-foot office building at 200 Monroe Ave. NW in Grand Rapids, to RDV Corp., the family office of the DeVos family.

For its part, Hinman Co. has several holdings across the region, including the Kalamazoo State Theatre, Battle Creek Tower in Battle Creek and 77 Monroe Center in Grand Rapids.

The company also proposed a 13-story hotel project at 10 Ionia Ave. in downtown Grand Rapids.

Other projects by the company include the Skyrise Business Center, Skyrise Luxury & Elderly Apartments and its recent joint venture with AVB Inc. at 400 Rose, a mixed-use development with 135 residential units and new retail space.