Perhaps downtown Traverse City’s most iconic building – built by Perry Hannah himself, the “father of Traverse City" – has sold.

The Fifth Third Bank building on the corner of Front and Union Streets is under contract to be purchased by Miller Investment Company and a group of local investors. The deal is expected to close in August.

Meanwhile, Kalamazoo-based Miller Energy Company has relocated to Traverse City and will occupy the entire second floor. Owners of the oil and gas exploration and production company are cousins of the family behind Traverse City-based Miller Investments.

Miller Investment Managing Partner Adam Miller tells The Ticker his company has been interested in the historic building since it was listed for sale last August, but that he could not justify the initial asking price, which at the time was $5.7 million.

The price was lowered to $3.9 million after an initial prospective buyer did not perform to the contract.

The purchase price was not disclosed; it includes the 29,383 square-foot building, a parking lot to the west, and a lot to the north. The entire parcel totals just under .7 acres.

Fifth Third Bank will continue to lease back the first and third floors, totaling almost half the usable building space. Once Miller Energy moves in, the building will be 85 percent full. Though some parties who explored a purchase were considering converting parts of the building to residential condominiums, Miller says the group’s initial plans call for keeping the building as-is, plus some cosmetic improvements – primarily to the main lobby – though he adds “there is room on the property to look at residential perhaps in the future."

He says the historic structure is in excellent shape.

“We were most surprised by how well the building was taken care of. It’s been owned by the bank for 120 years, and we’ve been really impressed by how well they cared for it,” says Miller, noting that there are new boilers and a relatively new roof.

The second floor will be gutted and improved for Miller Energy’s use.

Miller Energy’s Drew Martin says his company has formed a partnership with Acme-based Roth Exploration and is also “pursuing an acquisition of another company.” All told, he is forecasting 10-15 full-time employees will move into the second floor this fall.

“We’ve partnered with oil and gas companies in Traverse City for years,” Martin says, “and we felt like the ability to attract quality people with oil and gas experience and being closer to our partners was the driving force” for the relocation.

The building was built by lumber baron Perry Hannah, the “father” of Traverse City, and was designed by his son Julius. The building’s hallmark is the clock tower, which has four clock faces, each five feet in diameter. It features four floors, a mezzanine, and a full basement. It was previously home to Old Kent Bank, which was later acquired by Fifth Third.

Miller Investments’ Traverse City real estate portfolio is growing; the family-run company already owns the Bayview Professional Office Centre at the corner of M-72 and Grandview Parkway as well as 250 East Front (owned by the Miller-Snowden Group), the office building at the corner of Front and Park Streets that houses Chase Bank and has recently undergone massive improvements and an expansion to accommodate additional office space for Hagerty Insurance.