Commongrounds announces its tenant-owner partners.

Commongrounds, a real estate cooperative, announced today that several tenant partners have officially joined their new building at 416 Eighth Street in downtown Traverse City: Higher Grounds Trading Company, Iron Fish Distillery, Pathways Preschool, Crosshatch Center for Art & Ecology, and Commonplace.. The building will have a riverside café featuring Higher Grounds and Iron Fish, a 150 seat listening room and community event space run by Crosshatch Center for Art & Ecology, and Commonplace coworking and office space for nonprofits and business.. The third and fourth floors will offer 24 units of housing priced to be affordable for people working downtown and on Eighth Street.

 “Commongrounds is constructing a building on Eighth Street that is owned by its tenants and their customers and community in order to create a space that is only possible through the connections and collaborations of people that deeply care for this community,” said Kate Redman, Project Director and Commonplace founder, “We could not ask for a better group of folks to make it a reality.”

 “Higher Grounds sees real potential in Commongrounds becoming the foundational pillar of a major city redevelopment project (8th Street) with smart growth development as a necessary strategy for the construction of a healthy community,” said Chris Treter of Higher Grounds Trading Company.

 “This is the opportunity of a lifetime for us to create a small but mighty performance space in Traverse City,” said Brad Kik of Crosshatch, “We're planning to host everything from high school punk rock shows to high end listening room concerts with both local and travelling musicians. We get to partner with May Erlewine, and we get to work with a whole crew of people we deeply admire. We're so looking forward to this!"

 “Not only does Pathways get to revolutionize the concept of “childcare”, we get to take part in redefining what community is and what it feels like,” says Dan Fuller of Pathways Preschool, “The Commongrounds project provides us the opportunity to reshape the conversation around the childcare crisis, and show how children can thrive in a space where families and community are integrated.“

 Along with other tenant partners, Iron Fish Distillery and Higher Grounds will be selecting a restaurant partner who shares excitement about offering local food and craft beverages.  

“From the day we learned about the aims and community building goals of Commongrounds, we knew this was a vision that not only aligns with the values we care about at Iron Fish Distillery, but also a totally fun learning opportunity to join other like minded friends in Traverse City to make it happen,” said Richard Anderson, co-founder of the family-owned farm distillery located south of Traverse City in Thompsonville.

Kate Redman