The developer and architect Moorhead selected for a downtown redevelopment project have partnered on ventures including building local Bennigan's restaurants and renovating a historic downtown Fargo building.
Sterling Companies and Mutchler Bartram Architects have worked as a team for six years, sharing owners, staff members, and projects.
The firms' offices sit across the hall from each other in 300 NP Ave., an 84-year-old building the companies remodeled together.
Kevin Bartram owns MBA, John Dalen owns Sterling Realty, and the two co-own developing firm Sterling Companies, Bartram said.
"It's a real tight team," he said.
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"We share administrative staff, we share equipment, just about everything."
Though this is the largest project area-wise that the team has worked on, Sterling Co.'s component firms have experience on similar, smaller projects.
Sterling's plan for the 3.4-acre downtown Moorhead site, for example, calls for renovating the 105-year-old Kassenborg Block, building upscale, downtown condominiums and constructing and managing a bar and grill.
As the developer of the
$6 million 300 NP Ave. project, which includes high-end third-story condos costing $240,000 or more, and the owner of Bennigan's restaurants in Fargo, Moorhead and Sioux Falls, S.D., Sterling Co. has experience in all those areas.
Some of MBA's other projects include the addition and renovation of Fargo South High School in 1998 and overseeing the $23 million remodeling of the Quentin N. Burdick Courthouse in Fargo in 1998.
Moorhead has worked with Mutchler Bartram Architects before, notably on the addition to the Hjemkomst Center, said Scott Hutchins, Moorhead's community services director.
"They've done excellent work in the past," he said.
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Readers can reach Forum reporter Joy Anderson at (701) 241-5556
