Back in December of 2016, BRO correspondent Mark Swacha posted on the latest adventures of Melanie Morse and Thomas McDade – the team that publishes an international book series for kids called The Adventures of Seymour & Hau. At the time, Swacha noted that Morse and McDade were planning to renovate a building at 1148 Michigan Avenue for their commercial story-telling production company called Honey + Punch.
At the time, the building appeared pretty ragtag from the street. Today it’s an entirely different story, as you can see. Work on the building has been ongoing since the duo purchased it in 2015. Over the first nine months they repointed the exterior and had the roof replaced. Work included grinding and polished the concrete floor, cutting the concrete and orientated bathroom fixtures, installing new furnace, adding new hot water on demand system and new kitchen, with bathroom, and video editing rooms. Jeff Bailey (architect) helped out with the project.
The team has posted some of the ‘before and after’ interior shots on their Facebook page (seen below).
“We have had a few practice events here to see how to use the space,” said Morse. “Over the summer we hosted Val Emmich who was on a multi-city book tour which included a lovely intimate concert… and next week, March 13th, we are hosting Jeremy Enigk, who we are told only has four tickets left for the show, so we are excited about that!
“We met the previous building owner, Don Hale, during the sale of the building and have been fortunate enough to stay in touch with him. He is a wonderful man who built a great business in the space and he brought his family over on Christmas Eve this year to see the progress. When he sold us the building, he left us the remote control airplane that he built many years ago with his son. He had it hanging from the ceiling. As we renovated we kept it safe, cleaned it up and hung it back up in his honor.
“We have been using and working in the building since July and have had some great photoshoots, interview sessions, parties and concerts. We have backdrops hung in the ceiling that can be dropped at a moments notice, and have set up the space so it’s flexible. Now that we’ve had a few trial runs we are ready to open it up to the public as a rental space for events, seminars, meetings, photo/video/film shoots, intimate concerts, etc.
“It’s a really great, comfortable space to work and to enjoy other people. We are open to any and all ideas, including inviting another company in to rent as a work space. We have yet to have our inaugural Honey + Punch party to officially launch the building – that will likely take place in April or May.”