KALAMAZOO - The first public office building since the Reagan Administration is going up downtown, in the form of the 151,000 square-foot structure that will house law offices for Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone.

The six-story building is rising at a tight site at the corner of Rose and South streets. When the building opens early next year, the top two floors will be the working destination of 36 lawyers and 35 staffers.

"Remaining downtown, within easy access of clients, courts, many businesses and cultural institutions demonstrates Miller Canfield's commitment to the Kalamazoo area, and to the continued vitality of its downtown," said Thomas Linn, CEO of Miller Canfield. He said the building would allow the firm to bring its area lawyers into one facility.

Construction is being managed by the CSM Group. An update from the contractor said the construction process has "presented a number of interesting challenges." With traffic on two sides of the site and buildings on the other two, "the entire building had to be constructed essentially from within its own footprint, requiring a great deal of extra forethought and precise coordination," CSM noted.

In addition, construction of two levels of below-ground parking meant that deep pilings had to be sunk and earth retention walls created before it was backfilled with concrete against the other buildings. The job is moving along very quickly - the first concrete was being poured in March of 2007.

"Time has been a real factor on this job, and there's a little more pressure to meet the schedule," said Doug Hilton, a Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Local 357 member/foreman for piping contractor C.M. Mahoney. "But we have good quality guys and we're getting it done."

THE NEW MILLER-CANFIELD building at Rose and South streets in Kalamazoo is the first public office building constructed in the city since the 1980s.

READY TO RIG another pipe in the mechanical penthouse at the Miller Canfield building in Kalamazoo is Phil Barrett of Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Local 357, working for C.M. Mahoney.