Initially built for electrical controls manufacturing (1935-41), it was followed by a machine shop (1946-56), a distribution warehouse (1958-62), and, most recently, a graphics studio, which evolved from printing and photo engraving in 1963 to digital design upon closing in 2023. Each of the previous occupants was the sole user of the building. 

Today, the building serves an industrious community of creatives. Vander comes from the Dutch surname preposition “van der,” meaning “from/of the.” Records were frequently misrecorded and evolved into Vander, including when the founder’s family immigrated to the US. The concept of craft, ideas, and community from the building made sense.