Mortgage Lender Moves Headquarters
June 12, 2014 
A national mortgage lender has a new headquarters in the region after years of growth.
AmeriFirst Home Mortgage, founded in 1983, has moved out of its 12,000-square-feet space in Portage, at 616 W. Centre Ave., into a 21,827-square-feet space in Kalamazoo, at 950 Trade Centre Way.
“This is an exciting time for the AmeriFirst team,” said Mark Jones, president and co-founder, AmeriFirst Home Mortgage. “We get to go through what our clients go through — a big move!”
Growth
The move is necessary, because of AmeriFirst’s growth and need for more space, said David Gahm, CEO and co-founder, AmeriFirst.
AmeriFirst will continue to add staff to its corporate roster in servicing, accounting and other support staff, said Dan Moyle, creative director of marketing, AmeriFirst.
“In the last two years, we’ve added more than 150 people to our staff,” Gahm said. “We’re excited to grow and serve more homebuyers in our communities.”
Due to its growth, the company has received the Inc. magazine Hire Power award and made the Inc. 5000 ranking of the “Fastest Growing Private Companies” two years in a row.
Trade Centre Way
The total cost of the move, including renovations, furniture and technology upgrades, “adds up to approximately $250,000 into the local economy,” Moyle said.
Renovations to the space at the Trade Centre Way building were minimal, with The Hinman Company in Portgage handling the construction, said Emma Mitchell, marketing manager at Hinman, a development, property management and leasing firm.
Hinman’s founder, Roger Hinman, co-owns the Trade Centre Way project with Joe Gesmundo, founder of American Village Builders, a development and construction firm.
“Joe Gesmundo and I really enjoyed working directly with Mark to learn about and understand his dynamic business,” Hinman said. “This is a big win for the community, which will hopefully lead to additional future job growth.”
With the addition of AmeriFirst, there is one vacant 5,777-square-feet suite at the 950 building, located off of the main lobby on the first floor, Mitchell said.
A third office building, 650 Trade Centre Way, is planned for the Trade Centre development in the future, Mitchell said, adding that the timing for that building will be based on market demand.
Story written by Mike Nichols – Grand Rapids Business Journal
