The future home of the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce (JTV photo)
The Jackson County Chamber of Commerce is planning a move around the corner to 134 West Michigan Avenue in Downtown Jackson. The Chamber is purchasing the Klein Brothers building and will move all operations from its current location at 141 South Jackson Street this fall.
Moving to the new offices with the Chamber will be Experience Jackson and The Anchor Initiative.
According to Mindy Bradish-Orta, President and CEO of The Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, Experience Jackson and Anchor Initiative, the move is a result of growth. “The Chamber bought its current building in 2008 with 4.5 FTE (full time equivalent employees). Now, between Experience Jackson, the Anchor Initiative and the Chamber, there are 10 FTEs and a need for much larger storage space with the ever increasing programming of the organizations, especially Experience Jackson.” said Bradish-Orta.
The Chamber had been looking for more space for the past several months. Bradish-Orta said the Chamber board wanted to own and not rent and to stay downtown. “We are committed to staying in downtown Jackson so looked at a variety of buildings in the area. We found the perfect fit for us at 134 W. Michigan” said Bradish-Orta. “The building needs little renovations. Of extreme significance, the tenant income will pay for the mortgage, allowing our organizations to have a bigger presence in the community, space to grow and at no additional cost.”
Plans are for the first floor to be occupied by the Chamber, Experience Jackson and Anchor Initiative. Second floor will remain rental offices and the third floor is residential apartments. Current tenants are likely to remain on the upper floors. Anchor Initiative currently is housed in the Consumers Energy Innovation Center.
As part of the remodeling, the Chamber will be restoring the windows on the west side of the building, facing the alley. The original windows were bricked over many years ago and six new 48”x60” windows will be installed. The alley recently underwent a makeover with the addition of the outside patio of The Dirty Bird restaurant.
The Chamber’s new building has a long history in Jackson. Most notably, it was the home of Gilbert Chocolates from 1917 to 1957. The chocolate company had a popular retail store and restaurant in the building. Gilbert Chocolates recently moved from Ackerson Lake Drive in Jackson to a new downtown location at 233 North Jackson Street.
The 134 West Michigan Avenue location most recently was an office of Fifth Third Bank. In the years since Gilbert Chocolates moved, the building has had multiple uses, including banks, offices and a music store.
