The soon-to-be-closed campaign office for Gov.-elect Rick Snyder in downtown Ann Arbor could be home to a new tenant.

Angela Cesere | AnnArbor.com

The most obvious pending office vacancy in downtown Ann Arbor may be Rick Snyder’s campaign headquarters.

The building at 124 E. Washington was home to the Rick For Michigan campaign since he and his staff opened their headquarters there in June 2009.

It’s been the site of celebration and protests, and even a moderate lease extension.

“It was originally leased through October,” said building owner Herb Black. “Then as things progressed and were looking pretty good, they needed it a little longer.”

Now, after Snyder’s election victory on Nov. 2, the office is winding down.

And Black has made the “for lease” signs a bit more prominent, moving them from the second floor to the first late last week.

Snyder’s campaign occupied the first floor and lower level, while Black operated his Northwestern Mutual insurance agency upstairs.

Snyder’s transition team has office space to use in Lansing, said Snyder spokesman Ryan Kazmirzack. It’s located in a state administrative building.

“A lot of the work is still going to be done out of the Ann Arbor headquarters,” he said. But that will change in the next weeks.

The reason: “We’re ramping things down.”

So is Black, who plans on retiring from his agency in early 2012.

He’s looking for a new tenant who wants the street-level retail on two downtown corners, but is also making it clear the upstairs could eventually become a part of a new deal.

That’s a big transition, too, Black said. Northwestern Mutual has had a presence on the corner — either in that building or the Washington Square Building across South Fourth — since the mid-1950s.

“This is a great corner,” Black said. “I’ve seen it change over the years, and it’s never been better.”

But the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network offices moved in 2009 to larger space in Earhart Corporate Center. That left the vacancy downtown for Snyder’s then-ambitious campaign back in summer 2009.

The lease rate for the next tenant is likely to be about $3,500 per month for the street level and lower level, which has five offices.

Black said he’s had several calls on the space so far and anticipates the building will be ready right after Jan. 1.