Beloved antique shops where thousands hunt for treasures are fighting to survive eviction – MLive.com

Beloved antique shops where thousands hunt for treasures are fighting to survive eviction
GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Amid a sea of antiques, customers searched for rare treasures on Wednesday inside the hulking Sligh Furniture building, where three shops have carved out a niche among shoppers with a passion for vintage goods and collectibles.
But the bustling antique row on Grand Rapids’ Southwest Side could be forced to close.
A court-appointed receiver overseeing the historic building amid a legal dispute between its owner and a lender has asked a Kent County judge to shutter the structure over fears that part of its roof could collapse.
“We’re bracing for the worst,” said Mark Miller, the owner of Lost and Found, one of the three antique shops that lease space at the Sligh.
Miller and his fellow antique shop owners are already considering other locations where they could reopen if a judge orders the building to close. But they aren’t going without a fight.
Lost and Found, Century Antiques and Warehouse One Antiques filed an emergency motion Tuesday objecting to the closure request. They argued that doing so would force them out of business and destroy “a vibrant economic ecosystem” that draws “customers from across the city and country.”
“This enduring architectural gem and the unique collaborative commercial chemistry that it houses should be preserved, not closed and left to waste,” according to the motion, filed by attorney Sara Lachman of Grand Rapids-based Lachman PLC.
As tenants without ownership stakes, it’s unclear how much weight the court will give their arguments.
A hearing on the request to close the building, which was scheduled for Thursday, has been postponed. Court officials on Wednesday afternoon said a date for a new hearing on the closure request hasn’t yet been scheduled.
The cost of replacing the Sligh’s roof is estimated at $2.5 million, court documents show.
Mary Beth Schutt, the owner of Warehouse One Antiques, said she’s hopeful a compromise can be struck so the antique shops can stay open.
“We love and adore this place,” she said. “Everybody that has touched this building, walked inside it, felt its wonderful history, has their heart and soul here.”
Built in phases starting in the 1880s, the sprawling Sligh Furniture building is located on Century Avenue SW, just south of Wealthy Street, near downtown Grand Rapids. The building, part of which is five-stories tall, was once home to Sligh Furniture Company, one of the city’s largest furniture manufacturers at the turn of the century.
It’s listed on the U.S. Department of Interior’s National Register of Historic Places.
John Polderman, an attorney with the Southfield-based law firm Stevenson & Bullock, was appointed by the court as the receiver of Sligh building in June. A court-appointed receiver is a neutral, third party who oversees and manages a property amid a legal dispute.
His appointment is part of a lawsuit between JV SBAM SB LLC, a development group that proposed converting the building into 438 apartments, and Red Oak Income Opportunity Fund, a lender in Grand Rapids Township.
The lawsuit was filed in January by Red Oak Income Opportunity Fund.
In a June legal filing, Red Oak Income Opportunity Fund said it was requesting that the building be placed under receivership because JV SBAM SB LLC has defaulted on an $11.8 million loan.
Red Oak Income Opportunity Fund also said that JV SBAM SB LLC “admits that it owes the plaintiff more than $14 million.”
John Gibbs, a developer with Detroit-based Sturgeon Bay Partners who was leading the push to redevelop the Sligh building, is affiliated with JV SBAM LLC.
He said in a statement that he and his colleagues would “like to find a mutual path forward to complete the required work and keep the building open for the tenants.”
“This is an unfortunate situation and we are working hard to resolve the 2.5 year insurance dispute with respect to our claim and get back to work on this building which has a tremendous amount of potential,” he said.
The potential closure has disappointed customers who see the shops as more than just retail destinations. They say the businesses have created a unique destination that pays tribute to Grand Rapids’ vibrant history and culture.
“You go into more of a mass market home décor place and it’s like you’re seeing the same thing, copy and paste,” said Kallie Crouch, 22, who was shopping at Warehouse One Antiques Wednesday. “Here, you never really know what you’re going to find, and that’s a lot of fun.”
She likened the shopping experience to “a treasure hunt.”
Ashley Hamel, of Greenville, was one of 5,095 people who signed an online petition asking that the building remain open. She said she values how the antique shops preserve history and provide an outlet for antique collectors
“If you start erasing history from everything, then how do you remember, how do you appreciate it, how do you go forward if you don’t remember the past,” said Hamel, 40, who bought a shelf, Christmas ornaments and nutcracker from the shops Wednesday.
Polderman, the receiver, said in a court filing that the building should close because of “immediate issues involving the roof and supporting beams.” The city of Grand Rapids has also issued several code violations for the building, he noted.
“It is unknown when the roof will collapse,” Polderman wrote. “However, in light of a portion of the roof caving in last year, and a support beam currently cracked in half, it’s likely that another portion of the roof will collapse.”
His legal filing detailed the building’s structural issues.
A portion of the building’s roof, not directly overhead where the antique shops are located, has a “cracked support beam and a sagging roof,” he wrote. The roof is also sagging in another part of the building, although “no cracked beams” were detected there.
In addition, a section of the roof on the west side of the building collapsed several years ago, though repairs to that section have been completed, he said.
“While some of the violations can be easily remedied, and the Receiver is in the process of doing so, replacing the roof, beams and bricks is costly and not quickly or easily done,” Polderman wrote. “And even these ‘minor’ repairs exceed $200,000.”
Despite the receiver’s concerns, the antique shop owners say the building is safe.
“If I didn’t think it was, you and I wouldn’t be standing here,” Miller, the owner of Lost and Found, told an MLive reporter Wednesday.
He added, “If you think there is a possibility of a catastrophic failure that you’ve known about now for months, why are you taking my rent money? Why are you still allowing people in and out of the building? Or is it just your way of coming up with a solution to get us out of here?”
Schutt, the owner of Warehouse One Antiques, said she’s “not at all” concerned about the building’s safety.
“I have talked to people that used to maintain this building … they did not think it was a huge problem,” she said of the concerns raised by the court-appointed receiver.
Looking forward, Miller said he and the other antique store owners have discussed funding a portion of the repairs themselves so the building could remain open.
“The owners have a fiduciary responsibility to create a safe space for people to enter,” he said. “We’ve offered to pay for it, and so it’s basically that we don’t believe that it’s an unsafe space.”
Brian McVicar is a reporter with MLive covering business, growth and development in Grand Rapids and West Michigan.
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