Republicans Moving Out Of Secchia-Weiser Building

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 06/03/2024) The Michigan Republican Party (MRP) is moving out of its Seymour Street headquarters for smaller quarters, two years after the former chair tried to sell the building, which the party doesn't own.

The Secchia-Weiser Building is owned by a trust managed by former MRP chairs. The space is rented out to various Republican campaigns as long as the tenants take care of the utilities and the upkeep. The plan is to put the 11,000-square-foot building up for sale.

MRP Chair Jim Runestad (R-White Lake) told Michigan's Big Show that issues with the water in the building are presenting issues the party would rather not deal with.  Specifically, a leaky roof would cost an undetermined amount to repair, and funds are in short supply.

Beyond that, with technological advancements, state parties don't need the amount of space they have needed in the past.

Michigan Seal on an elephant.

“In times like these, you have to have a small footprint in terms of the number of employees you need in a building,” Runestad said. “When things really ramp up this time next year, we'll probably have to rent, temporarily, a bigger space, but with so much commercial real estate out there that's available, we don't anticipate any difficulty in finding anything in the downtown Lansing area that is affordable.”

Unlike two years ago when former MRP Chair Kristina Karamo took the Trust to court in the hopes of directly earning profits from the building's sale, there's no tension between the former chairs and the current chair on what to do with the structure and what to do with the proceeds from the sale.

“I wish I could say there was a lot of controversy because we could create all kinds of news,” said former MRP Chair Susy Avery on Michigan's Big Show today. “We've had many discussions together, but it came down to the building. It's just too big.”

Bobby Schostak, the chair of the Trust, said it's undetermined how any proceeds will be spent. He reiterated that in years past, the party had the ability to hire a robust staff that needed office space for 40 to 50 employees during the heights of campaigns. These days, space for the Chair and some senior staff is all that's necessary.

The maintenance of the building will be taken care of as it goes on the market in the near future, he said.