Van Andel Institute will formally open its $178 million Phase II research-education project, an expansion of its Grand Rapids, MI facility that will nearly triple its laboratory space, allowing it to expand its research and more than triple its staff. The institute will mark the project’s completion with a Dec. 8 ribbon-cutting. Van Andel will use the eight-story, 240,000-square-foot Phase II facility to house expanded research teams.
The long-anticipated project was first announced in 2005 and took two years to build — but was completed two months ahead of schedule and under budget by a joint venture of Hunt Construction Group and Owen-Ames-Kimball. Ritsema Associates walked onto the project to install the flooring and paint in the Spring of 2009, completing the final touches shortly before the grand opening in December 2009.
Van Andel Phase II is designed to meet the standards of the US Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Design program of the US Green Building Council.
