Mark Sanchez: You're seeing big capital investments occurring around downtown and in some of the peripheral neighborhoods. And this is a big project. It's a $185 million project, 160 room hotel, 342-unit apartment tower, a nine-story parking deck, because yes, parking is an issue in that North Monroe neighborhood.
This is proposed by CIG Management. It's a big project. It's at 804 Bond Avenue and 816 Monroe Avenue. And we've seen a lot of investment going into that North Monroe neighborhood for a number of years now, led by Corewell Health. It has acquired a lot of properties, and built its new headquarters there, Corewell Place. And there's more construction going on there. And now this is going to kind of joined the party so to speak. Project is $185 million, $150 for the apartment building, $35 million for the hotel and it's going to add to that again capital investment and transformation of that North Monroe neighborhood.
The six-story hotel would be a dual brand, Home2 Suites and Tru by Hilton, located just immediately south of the River Flats building at 820 Monroe and overlooking Monroe Avenue and the Grand River. So, it's again, as you said, Patrick, it's a continuation of what we've seen going on in downtown and to the north of downtown and certainly on the south side of downtown for many years, the arena district. You know, the two big projects people have been watching the soccer stadium, the amphitheater and the north side of downtown, my guess is you're going to see a continued investment there and continue to see that neighborhood transform.
Patrick Center: And the city has been open to adjusting some of the zoning regulations to allow these projects to move forward.
Mark Sanchez: Yeah, there's a, you know, it's like, want the capital investments, or don't you? So, you, you set your zoning, you set your regulations accordingly and the folks can meet them, and it makes financial sense and makes good sense for the marketplace. And there's a market demand. You see folks come forward with these projects.
Patrick Center: You mentioned some of those larger civic lifestyle projects. You mentioned the soccer stadium, AC Grand Rapids beginning to put the pieces in place in their front office and marketing being one of those areas.
Mark Sanchez: This is a big, kind of a milestone hire for AC Grand Rapids, a minor league soccer franchise that starts playing next year. They have hired a gentleman, Ted Van Zelst, as their Chief Revenue Officer. And that's a position where he's going to oversee corporate sponsorships and partnerships, as well as the season and group ticket sales.
This will allow the franchise to now start signing those corporate partners, the corporate sponsorships that every, every sports franchise needs. Not just ticket sales, not just broadcast revenue, but you need those corporate sponsorships to thrive in the marketplace and to go forward.
So, Ted Van Zelst is his name. He's going to start fashioning these partnerships. I'm told they do have one national apparel company that is already signed before the hiring, and they've got a lot of interest. The hype is building and the franchise is building the business. Next step, we'll see them hire a coach and manager and then they'll start putting together a roster. And everybody's been watching for many months as the soccer stadium rises there along southbound U.S. 31. So, this is a big position for the franchise to start building the, more of the business side of the franchise.
Patrick Center: And this is somebody who has done this many times over.
Mark Sanchez: Yeah, he has extensive background in sports and entertainment marketing. He's spent some time with the Detroit Pistons. He's spent some time with NASCAR. He's worked for the New York Islanders and the NHL. He was at the WWE and pro wrestling. He also has his own kind of Detroit-based sports and entertainment marketing consultant. And also, interesting back a few years ago, he was chief commercial officer for Saudi Motorsports Company. That's a commercial entity that promotes races in Saudi Arabia, including the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
So, he has extensive experience and his most recent, one of his most recent gigs was through his company. He was working for a minor league baseball franchise in Richmond, Virginia, the Richmond Flying Squirrels, AA affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. And he helped the franchise down there in Richmond, increase ticket sales and triple sponsorship revenue as the team kind of prepared to move to a new stadium there in Richmond. So again, he has extensive experience. If you're one of the corporations, companies out there that have been looking to link your brand with AC Grand Rapids, now's the time to step forward. And there's that person on board there at the franchise that now I'm going to start putting together these partnerships and sponsorships.
Patrick Center: We're talking with Crain's Grand Rapids Business staff writer, Mark Sanchez. Beer. Michigan is synonymous with craft brewing and one of the craft brewers Up North has signed just a really interesting deal with a major corporation.
Mark Sanchez: Yeah, this is Shorts Brewing Company in Bellaire near Traverse City, just Northeastern Traverse City. It signed a multi-year licensing deal with Warner Brothers for National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, a variety pack that it will begin selling in November. We all have our favorite Christmas movies. No, I'm not going to argue about Die Hard, but we all have our Christmas movies we like to watch each year and boy, for a number of us, Christmas Vacation is on that list. So, it's a deal, its multi-year, they'll start it this year.
They've got a number of beers; there are four different beers. Names are; “That there’s an RV,” “Bonus Check”, “Nine Lives” and of course the “Jelly of the Month” beer. And who doesn't want a Jelly of the Month beer, right? And since you're all asking and thinking, yes, there were some names for their brews that they did not get accepted by Warner Brothers, by the studio. Yes, one would have been called. I won't say it, but the, you know, Randy Quaid, Cousin Eddie, we've all said the line when we watch the movie where he's standing in his skivvies out by the curb, “Hey, Clark…” But no, we won't say that on the air. So, that was one of the beers that the studio did not accept as far as one of the brands.
But it's an interesting partnership for this craft brewer, Shorts Brewery, and it's slated to begin production in September. Shorts initially had planned about 20,000 to 25,000 cases, expanded that to 350,000 cases based on some earlier responses from retailers, and nearly all of them have already been spoken for by retailers. So, Shorts is already planning for next year with the goal of producing about 250,000 cases of the Christmas Vacation Theme Pack.
Patrick Center: Is there a backstory to this? Who reached out to whom?
Mark Sanchez: This is a story we posted, my co-worker Abby Poirier here at Crain’s Grand Rapids did the other day, it was kind of the CEO there at Shorts. Reached out to the studio with this idea and it kind of started going from there. Took a while to put together. You know, these studios are very, very protective of their copyright, their intellectual property and their brand. So, there's a lot of vetting that goes on when any company wants to cut these types of deals with a movie theme or show theme, things like this. So, it was the CEO there that reached out and started the conversation and over a period of time, they were able to put together this deal and look for it on a store shelf coming near you. It's the National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation Pack by Shorts Brewery.
Patrick Center: Crain’s Grand Rapids Business staff writer Mark Sanchez I raise a glass to you.
Mark Sanchez: (Laughing)
Patrick Center: Thank you so much.
Mark Sanchez: Thank you, Patrick.