After hitting the market for $2.95 million last summer, Warehouse MRKT on Hall Street in the Warehouse District officially sold Monday. Aevitas Medical Consultants – currently located in the Hannah Lay Building on Front Street – has purchased the building and will be moving into the Waara Technologies and Darling Botanical Co. spaces. The Ticker spoke with the new owners and multiple building tenants about what comes next.

As previously reported in The Ticker, Warehouse MRKT – an 18,454-square-foot building with nine tenants – was listed for sale last year, highlighting its location in “one of Traverse City’s most sought-after districts.”

The site was listed by Meridith and Dan Falconer, who purchased the property from Dan’s parents in 2013. That transition a decade ago was initially a bumpy one. However, the Falconers invested in remodeling the building and gradually attracted a new stable of tenants. “We loved reinventing the Warehouse MRKT and collaborating with so many small businesses and local artists over the years,” Meridith Falconer said by email.

The Falconers’ departure – and the arrival of new owners Aevitas – raises questions again for tenants. Some have experienced both transition periods. Todd Waara of Waara Technologies, who has been in his space for 21 years, is preparing to depart for a new location at 527 East Eighth Street (the former Verano Tan building). He’s renovating the space next to Details Salon – which will remain open – ahead of a targeted late October opening.

Waara looked at buying Warehouse MRKT, but “it didn’t pencil out on paper,” he says. His team considered buildings in the downtown area with enough parking and showroom space to meet Waara Technologies’ needs, eventually securing the Eighth Street location. “It’ll be sad to move, but with the growth of our company, there’s an advantage to having our own building and having our own name out there,” he says.

Darling Botanical Co., which has been in Warehouse MRKT for 12 years, is also targeting a mid-to-late October opening in the Tru Fit Trouser complex on Woodmere Avenue. Owner Megan Kellogg says she began looking for a new home as soon as Warehouse MRKT was listed. Her lease had expired by then, and she occupied one of the most high-profile units.

“If I bought this building, I would want that space as well,” she says. “It’s much more valuable now than when it was twelve years ago. But nobody asked me to leave; I wanted to leave under my own power. I’m just sad. I loved that neighborhood. It was quite difficult to find a new location in Traverse City that wasn’t 3,000 square feet or wildly expensive. But I feel culturally, Tru Fit is a really nice spot.”

Kellogg says the Warehouse District has undergone significant change in recent years, jokingly referring to it now as the “hotel district.” Parking has become a major challenge, she says, with limited metered spots serving multiple businesses. Still, she’s hopeful other tenants can remain. After small businesses were forced to vacate the Arcade on Front Street following ownership changes in 2023, Kellogg says locations where mom-and-pop companies can operate in downtown Traverse City are increasingly constrained.

“It’s a seasonal community, and it’s hard to afford being a small business on Front Street,” she says. “We have to push out to the fringes to find that potential and exist. Unfortunately, it’s just how real estate is shifting.”

Multiple tenants in Warehouse MRKT told The Ticker they were offered maximum two-year leases in recent months following the building’s listing. Co-owner Caitlin Marsh of Artemis Books & Goods says her bookstore’s lease is good through February 2028. While she had few details on the new owners, she’s hopeful to remain in her space long-term. “We're hoping the new owners feel the same way, as we're very proud of the space we've built and how quickly it's become a little community hub,” she says.

Azure Klug of Water Bearer Coffee says she’s in the “same boat as the other tenants with a current two-year lease.” She adds: “I have not heard who the new owners of the building are, or what their intentions may be, but at this time am hoping to stay in the building as long as they will have me.”

Julie O'Hearn-Cox of Handz on Art is one of the longest-running businesses on the property. “The Warehouse District has gone through several evolutions over the decades,” she says. “Handz On Art has been open in its current location for nearly 30 years, even before the Warehouse MRKT existed. I do not have plans to relocate. I look forward to fostering a good relationship with the new building owners.”

Dr. Jeff Valice is one of the owners of Aevitas and now Warehouse MRKT. He said via email that the medical business will be vacating Front Street and moving into the Waara Technologies and Darling Botanical Co. spaces. “It roughly doubles our square footage, gives us a real street presence, and helps us realize a bigger vision for where Aevitas is headed,” he wrote. “We couldn't be more excited about this next chapter by bringing performance, medical, and recovery services together under one roof for the first time.”

Valice says his team has “real admiration for what the Falconers have built at Warehouse and the environment they've created there, and we're looking forward to collaborating with the other small businesses in the building.” When asked about long-term plans for Warehouse MRKT and the future of existing tenants, Valice did not go into detail but said his team would be contacting businesses soon.

“We also want to be sensitive to the tenants who've built something special there,” he wrote. “We know there's uncertainty right now in the eyes of existing tenants, but we do intend to reach out to each tenant directly after closing for discussions about their concerns and future.”