Stang10

Doesn't look to be a primer coat based on the fact that there is no protective paper/plastic covering any of the windows, trim or moulding. That looks to be the finished color.

They look to be slightly behind their work schedule. According to the project timeline, all the steel was suppose to be completed by year end. I'm not sure how far behind they are but I would imagine at least a couple of weeks based on the picture.

The orginal timeline showed the structural steel would be topped out by the end of the year, not sure if there has been any delays but looks to be pretty close to hitting that mark.

They have a pension benefit, see my previous response. Their 401K is also 100% match on the first 6% but 0% after that. For example, you put 10% into 401K SW, will match the first 6%, dollar for dollar, and no match on the remaining 4% you elected to deposit.

This is 100% inaccurate. They paused the pension program during the housing crisis back in '07-'09 but it was brought back shortly after that and is still a thing. I also believe, but I could be wrong on this, if you were hired during that time during the pension pause, when they brought it back you were backpaid in your pension account based on years of service. Like most pension plans though, you don't qualify until you have 6 months of service and it isn't 100% vested until 3 years of service.

You have Amish in every trade (including electricians) and they are damn good tradesmen. Anyways, not sure if it's been said before but the Hasawi might be the slowest construction process in the state.

Yeah like I said, probably just my brain not being able to comprehend the scale from the pictures. I'll be in downtown on Tuesday, so as long as the weather cooperates I'll take a stroll during lunch and try and get a feel for it in real life.

I don't know if it's just me or my terrible ability at perceiving size/volume/space, but is it just me or does the elevator/stairwell core take up a large portion of the total area space on the higher floors? It just doesn't seem like there will be much floor space. I might just be looking/thinking about this wrong lol.

I lived in KC for a little of a year back in 2014/2015 and remember their downtown area have lots of trees/shrubs (ones that were alive too!) Let's hope the trees/shrubs that get planted around SW HQ are maintained and don't turn into depressing apocalyptic trees.

I think it just looks like that from the prospective used for the overlay, makes it look bigger than the crane it's not. Just like making someone look taller in a picture by moving them in the foreground and having a smaller person be slightly behind them.

How many people are going to drive into downtown Cleveland to grab a gallon of paint for their bedroom? Any paint being used on commercial projects is already getting delivered (free of any cost) to the jobsite. I know how people think it's a great idea but I don't know how viable the store would actually be.

SW is submitting their conceptual design to the city today. I'm not 100% familiar with the process or how long it takes, but I would imagine something this month we should have some sort of idea what the final design/building may look like.

So this little nugget was sent to me. Looks they are getting close to having an interior design/layout if they spent the time and money to set up a mock plan for employees to walk through.

I'm mean, I'm not going to go tit for tat with you on what I received as a FT employee, but it clearly states that the company will be re-introducing their return to work rotational program they put in place last fall and no more than 1/3 of the downtown employees will be in the building at any given time. But what do I know ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I mean I can read company e-mails fine and it clearly states that the return to work is on the rotational schedule like it was originally planned, last fall. No more than 1/3 of employees will be at HQ at any given time during the work week, that sure doesn't seem like a 100% return to the office situation. Which started but then quickly switched back to 100% work from home for the vast majority of the employees in downtown.

It's not even about nostalgia when it comes to cubical style floor plan. It's about efficiency and productivity. Open office floor plan is exactly what you said a disaster and not a single one of my co-workers like it. Some floors in the main building have been updated with shorter cubicals where you can see the heads of everyone around you (or entire upper body if they have a standing desk), but still have your "designated" area to sit, and those office floors are despised and I can't find anyone that actually "enjoys" working in that environment.

This is not true. They are not bringing back everyone back for all 5 days of the work week. It's going to be a rotational return to work and the office will not be back to 100% occupancy in the near future.

Honestly, haven't really heard much concern about the street level presence of the the new HQ. From time to time, people are wondering what the parking situation will be but most agree that it will be limited and very expensive so most will continue to park where they do now (or commute via bus, rapid, etc.). I think everyone would be open to new restaurants/bars/etc. in the immediate area. More often than not people are going out to lunch during the summer/nice days or going to a happy hour after work (pre-COVID that is).

Couldn't disagree more with the fact that the cubicle office plan will deter employment. The open office floor plan is horrible concept and many of my co-workers (who range from mid 20s to mid 30s) agree with me on this issue. It doesn't take long to realize that the open office floor plan is loud, distracting, and doesn't improve productivity or collaborative efforts like people who support it say it does. And more often than not, if you walk into an office area within SHW, the biggest complaints you'll hear are HVAC, elevators, IT, desire to have a standing/sitting desk, and maybe the bathrooms. Last on that list will be "openness", desire for exposed ceilings, and lighting within the building (more often than not, many office areas don't even turn on all their lights because most people prefer working in dimmer settings). If young people are looking for distracting workplaces with all these ridiculous amenities that they think are needed at a workplace, the corporate life might not be for them or maybe they need to move to California/Seattle to get those ping pong tables, catered lunches and nap stations.

Not sure where you are getting your info on that most recent grads start at the R&D Center. But unless you're on the product development side of the business, you're probably not starting there. If you are accounting, finance, marketing, communications, IT, HR, Customer Service, or Operations you're more than likely starting in the HQ building, maybe Skylight. Some people, but very few would start in the Hinkley office. And if you start on the Automotive side of the company, you would most likely start in Warrensville Hts. The Midwest Division offices are in Strongsville, I haven't seen anything about those jobs being moved but those could be potentially moved to Cleveland or the Brecksville site. You also have the Cleveland District office in Garfield Heights, I would doubt those jobs would move though. I think it's only a matter of time before the Valspar jobs slowly move down from Minnesota and Chicago and are moved to Cleveland/Brecksville as well. There is also some ancillary offices in Sewickley, PA that could be moved up as well. All in all, you're going to see a rather significant increase in downtown staffing once everything has been moved to the new offices. And all that increase doesn't even include the general increase in hiring that goes along with a growing business.

I would be willing to bet that if a new stadium is built, rather than a massive renovation project on the current stadium, you would see a stadium with a retractable roof or a dome so it could be used for more than just 10 sporting events per year. There is too much money being lost by Cleveland not being able to utilize a 68K stadium in the winter besides for football. You would be able to bid on the NCAA basketball tournament, stadium concert series, possible Super Bowl hosting, SuperCross Races, etc. All of those things would then be able to be played or at least given an opportunity for a legitimate bid to bring those to CLE. It's just a matter of raising funds for a $1B project. It's already a sticky subject for the city to raise the funds. Owners usually don't want to spend their own money and leverage the possibility of moving the team to get what they what. This is all 5+ years down the road but I'm sure the Haslams have already done extensive research on the options.

I understand that these sound like general maintenance repairs/work but I have a friend that worked on the construction of Cleveland Brown Stadium and he said that facility is basically put together with spit and glue and major repairs will be needed in the long run. I think the lease runs out in 2028 or 2029. I would expect the Haslams, especially if the Browns continue to improve as a team, to look to build a brand new stadium with a retractable roof. Not sure where it would go, since you need a massive footprint for the stadium/parking/transit/etc but I would imagine they are in the very early stages of planning a massive project like this.

Obviously I can state it as fact, but as far as I'm aware, there has been no survey sent out, in mass, to current HQ employees about the style of office they would prefer. Obviously you can't make everyone happy, but from everyone I've spoke to, I haven't had one positive reactive to an open floor plan, like you'd see out west in some of the tech hubs. Also, I'm 100% against floor plans with conference rooms that are in the center of a floor with glass walls.

Speaking of the design and it being a modern building with open floors. I can tell you, there aren't that many people excited about a open layout/design for the building. Everyone I talked to is 100% against the open design style. Nobody wants to be doing their work and being able to see other people working out of the corner of your eyes the entire day. Also, when you talk on the phone, at least cubicles offer some sort of privacy/noise reducing qualities to them, with nothing around you, you're going to be picking up everyone's conversation around and people will be listening in more than every. Obviously my sample size is very small when talking to people, but I think people are more excited about functional elevators rather than open floor plans.

Ken, I'm not expert in building timelines, but even with a slightly delayed start to the HQ/RD project. Do you see how they can put up a building of the projected size in less than 3 years?