Builders Put Headquarters Up for Sale

How bad is the housing market? Bad enough that a cash-strapped builders' group is forced to sell its own home.

Three years after moving into its posh, new $3.5 million headquarters, the Home & Building Association of Greater Grand Rapids is putting the building up for sale.

Chief Executive Judy Barnes said the association is hampered by the weak economy, a sluggish residential building industry and declining membership. The setbacks have resulted in some pledges made toward paying for construction of the 15,000-square-foot headquarters going unfulfilled.

The association spent $1.5 million of its own money on the building. The remainder was to …