A grand opening will take place from 4-7 p.m. Thursday

By Randy Hanson
rhanson@rivertowns.net

Agrand opening for the impressive Monetary Centre building at Carmichael and Hanley roads is scheduled for 4-7 p.m. Thursday, June 21.

The Monetary Centre is named for the street on the west side of the building, Monetary Boulevard. The sign will soon list the names of half a dozen other businesses that have, or are planning to, move into the building.

The owners didn’t envision a facility quite as grand as the three-level brick, stucco and glass building that graces the southwest corner of the busy intersection when they began their planning. But architect Matt Frisbie convinced them that they needed to maximize any structure they put on such a visible and valuable piece of real estate.

“We ended up with this, and we’re glad we did,” said Sandra Gehrke, the Keller Williams Integrity Realty agent who brought together the building’s nine-member ownership group. “Everybody’s talking about this building. Everybody was kind of watching it go up,” she said.

Gehrke’s and her partners’ initial objective was simply to build a home for their new real estate office, along with some commercial condo space to help pay for the building.

With Frisbie’s encouragement, they expanded the floor plan from 10,000 square feet on one level to 28,400 square feet on two above-ground floors and a lower level.

The red brick and generous use of glass, accented with stucco and artificial stone, gives the exterior a rich appearance.

The contemporary/modern-style office and retail building also shows a prairie influence in
its hip roof with long eave overhangs.

Frisbie designed the second floor to project out over the first-floor windows, providing addi-
tional space above and shade for the ground level offices and shops. The window-lined second floor also extends out over the main-level entryways.

“It tends to lease a little better when you have lots of windows and good views,” Frisbie explained.

The windows on the south side of the building provide a view of a pond and natural area that you might expect to find in the north woods.

The second-floor windows on the north side overlook the commercial district on the south side of I-94 and beyond.

The new 28,400-square-foot Monetary Centre is a grander building than a group of Keller Williams real estate agents originally planned to build. Architect Matt Frisbie encouraged the owners to make the most of the prominent lot at the corner of Carmichael and Hanley roads.

Frisbie said that while the Monetary Centre looks expensive, its per-square-foot cost was
quite reasonable compared to other new office

Hudson Star Observer Articles and River Falls Journal Articles reprinted with permission from the newspapers.