Office spaces to be added downtown Monroe
Reprint from Monroe Evening News
New office spaces will be added downtown by the end of the year.
Gary Vajcner of Vajcner Properties bought the former DTE Energy office building at 111 First St. in March and is remodeling it to make 12 to 15 offices available.
“It’s a good investment and prime location for attorneys,” Mr. Vajcner said. He owns two apartment buildings on Washington St. and an apartment complex on Macomb St.
“It’s one of the prettiest buildings in Monroe,” he said.
Mr. Vajcner is adding a new gas steam boiler and air conditioning system to the Colonial Georgian- style building, and hopes to finish remodeling before winter.
The building formerly was used by DTE and the county for office space and customer service before Mr. Vajcner bought it.
“It was just sitting here and nobody was doing anything with it, so I wanted to get it all fixed up to look beautiful again,” he said.
After the offices are rented out, Mr. Vajcner is considering two other options to add to the building in the distant future.
A credit union could go in the lobby, which is still set up with a long wooden service counter, and a coffee shop could go in the back of the building near the gated parkway on the north side, he said.
Dan Swallow, director of economic and community development, said the office spaces will help make downtown more vibrant.
“Any professional office spaces help support other businesses downtown like retail and restaurants,” Mr. Swallow said. “It will help increase spending in downtown.”
Rent for the office spaces have not been set yet, but Mr. Vajcner said it would be comparable to other office spaces downtown.
