A growing Jackson security and communications business will
stay downtown and expand, thanks in part to an agreement with the city and
Consumers Energy.
Comtronics will add a 40,000-square-foot, four-story office
complex at its downtown headquarters at 315 Water St., company President and CEO
John A. Campau said. Groundbreaking will be in the next two to four years, he
said.
The building addition, estimated to cost between $3 million and
$4 million, will connect with the current structure on its north
side.
"Everything worked out nicely because the city needed land and
we needed parking," Campau said.
Comtronics, which has 135 employees, plans to add 50 more
workers in the expansion. The company also is negotiating an acquisition of a
southeastern Michigan alarm company that could create 25 more jobs, he
said.
The company has 20 satellite locations in Michigan and
Wisconsin, with business concerns in eight other states.
The proposed expansion piggybacks with the Jackson City
Council's approval this week of a land swap with the company, giving Comtronics
room for 75 parking spaces along Water Street in exchange for a strip of land
behind the business for a section of the Grand River biking and walking
trail.
Comtronics will add a 40,000-square-foot,
four-story office complex at its downtown headquarters at 315 Water St. after a
land swap with the city. |
The city had already paid $1.15 million to acquire two
properties adjacent to Comtronics for surface parking for the new CMS
Energy/Consumers Energy headquarters, located to the west of Comtronics across
Airline Drive. Building demolition and site improvements increased the cost to
$2.48 million.
That site will provide an additional 340 surface parking spaces
for Consumers Energy.
"The Water Street development allowed the city to meet its
contractual obligation for Consumers and also allows Comtronics, which is one of
the fastest-growing companies in the city, to expand," said Brian O'Connor,
director of Community Development for the city. "It's basically a public/private
partnership at its best."
Comtronics, celebrating its 45th anniversary this year, will
incorporate a $100,000 landscaping project around its building to mirror the
city's downtown streetscape.
The company will install black aluminum fencing brick piers and
street lights on its property adjacent to a section of the Grand River Trail, a
city biking and walking trail that runs from Jackson's southern border along the
river to its northern boundary.
Campau said the expansion plan came about because he needs more
space for the company's video surveillance and burglar alarm operation, which
makes up about 65 percent of his business.
The company generated more than $15 million in Nextel sales and
service in the last year and also sells commercial and residential security
systems and satellite television installations.
Campau, the Greater Jackson Chamber of Commerce Small Business
Person of the Year in 2001, said the company had considered
relocating.
"Despite looking at another location to increase our office
space, we really wanted to stay downtown," he said.
"We've been putting money into our infrastructure, hiring and
satellite locations, and truly believe we have a partnership with the city that
integrates us in this area's development."
Comtronics has also contracted with the city to supply video
surveillance equipment for the Consumers surface parking lot, according to
Campau. That parking completes the city's commitment to the energy giant to
provide 1,300 parking spaces near the new building, set to open next
year.
Reprinted with permission from The Jackson Citizen
Patriot
Copyright October 2002
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