The building trades, general contractor Walbridge-Aldinger and its subcontracts are erecting a new headquarters building in Troy for Flagstar Bancorp.

The $30 million, 380,000 square-foot building is part of a boom within a boom relating to construction activity in Southeast Michigan. Hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent on projects along the I-75 corridor in northern Oakland County.

"We are very excited about this partnership with the city of Troy and look forward to the continued growth of this institution," said Thomas J. Hammond, Flagstar's chairman and CEO.

The new facility, on a 25-acre campus along Crooks Road, will consolidate three existing corporate offices in Southeast Michigan.

"We're under a very tight schedule, but we're moving along fairly well," said Walbridge-Aldinger Project Director Anthony DiPonio. "It's a pretty straightforward building. The trades and our subs are going a really good job. They're very quality conscious." The project employs about 120 Hardhats, and is expected to wrap up at the end of July.

Ground was broken on the project on June 16. The main feature of the four-story building is a central atrium, which links the three wings of the complex.

Flagstar Bank currently operates from 31 bank branches located in southern and western Michigan, and 36 loan origination centers located in Michigan, Florida and Ohio, along with 15 correspondent lending offices which are located across the United States. Flagstar Bank is one of the largest originators of residential mortgage loans in the United States.

A BEAM IN THE CENTRAL atrium of the new Flagstar Bank headquarters is welded by Richard Luft of Iron Workers Local 25.

A FRESHLY POURED cement floor in the atrium of the Flagstar Bank headquarters is smoothed over by Fred Lofton of Cement Masons 514.