12/28/11 Tuesday afternoon Jerry Nikitas, Brent Martin and Ron Liechty invited the media and a few others to tour the construction site of the Community Resource Center. The new facility will provide a central location for Marshall County social service agencies including Women, Infants and Children better known as WIC, the Marshall County Housing Authority and Habitat for Humanity, Work One, FSSA, the Center Township Trustee and Real Services.
The CRC is located on Adams Street on the former site of the Fulton-Marshall Co-op which had been abandoned for some time and had become a blighted area.
The three story structure is on schedule for completion in April 2012 and on budget. Construction costs were projected to be $2.7 million although total cost including acquisition of the property and the demolition raised the bottom line to $3.3 million.
Main entrance into the facility will be from the west parking lot although there is an entrance on the east side of the building too, both with vestibules. Although there are currently steps to the entrance, ramps are included for handicap accessibility. Brent Martin explained that 70 percent of the parking lot is in. He continued that it was paved on the very last day the asphalt plant was open.
Martin’s tour began in the basement where he said they have planned the expansion area for additional office spaces. There is an elevator for easy access to all three floors and in the center of the structure is a skylight that will shine down through the two upper floors and to the basement.
Sixty-six percent of the available space is committed for those who have signed letters of intent. The finalization of the leases is going on right now. There is space is available, from a single office user up to a 4,000 square foot suite. Gregory D. Pink from CB Richard Ellis, the professional property managers of the facility said that although the Community Resource Center is for non-profits, 25%of the facility can host profit services or agencies. He also said they have some flexibility in creating the desired space. Anyone interested in looking a leasing space in the Community Resource Center should contact CB Richard Ellis at 574-237-6004 or greg-pink@cbre.com.
