Most of what this building is made of came from within seventy-five miles of where it stands.
That is not a slogan somebody worked backward into. It is a consequence of how it was built.
Where the pieces come from
All of the structural steel was fabricated within two miles of the site. Not the state — two miles. The concrete block comes from western Wisconsin. Ready-mix concrete has to come from close by whether you want it to or not, because it has roughly forty minutes of useful life in the truck, which means every yard of it is local by physics.
We are not going to pretend it is all local. Rebar is imported from out of state. Windows and overhead doors come from other states as well. Nothing is sourced from outside the country. That is the honest version.
Why this is not just a feel-good line
Buildings in this category are usually metal or wood framed, and they arrive as a package on a truck from a long way off. There is nothing illegal about that. But it has consequences that show up years later.
When something needs attention on a building made of parts fabricated three states away, the people who know that assembly are three states away too. When the steel came from two miles down the road, the crew that made it is still two miles down the road.
It also means the money stayed here. The trades that put this up live in the area. They are going to drive past it for the next thirty years.
Old methods on purpose
The materials list is short and it is deliberately unexciting: masonry, concrete, structural steel. No wood framing. No unusual adhesives holding critical things together.
These are methods that have been used for centuries, in buildings that were expected to outlast the people who commissioned them. There is nothing experimental here and nothing that depends on a single manufacturer’s opinion about how long a product will last. The block is integrally colored, so the exterior needs no paint and no siding — there is nothing to redo in fifteen years.
The demising walls between suites are reinforced concrete block for four reasons: resistance to fire, sound transfer, structural rigidity, and the overall soundness of the building. Concrete does not burn.
The point
You cannot see any of this once the doors are on. It looks like a very good building, and a building that was shipped in on trucks from far away can also look like a very good building on opening day.
The difference shows up in year ten and year twenty, and by then the decision has already been made for you.
We are here with the community, building the community. That is the shortest way to say it.
See the suites or get in touch. The sales offices are open in Unit D14, 5000 Odessa Ave NE, St. Michael.