New center in Cleveland hopes to attract international business

 

http://www.arielinternationalcenter.com/aic/aboutus.jsp

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Radhika Reddy arrived in Cleveland 22 years ago from India, with $20, an immigrant visa and a lot of determination.

 

Reddy was on a yearlong graduate scholarship here, where she earned a master's degree in business from Case Western Reserve University, became a U.S. citizen and launched a small international business-consulting practice.

 

This summer, with the opening of Ariel International Center, Reddy will have invested in what she believes will serve as a destination location for international businesses and cultural events.

 

The center will be housed in a 68,000-square-foot historic building, the old Leff Electric at East 40th Street and St. Clair Avenue.

 

"This is my adopted home, and I want to give back to this region," said Reddy, a former international banker.

 

 

.............

 

The center is initially funded with equity from partners of Ariel Ventures, a minority firm Reddy founded that specializes in public-private economic development finance, tax credits and incentives. The company touts about $2 million in sales by providing financial and business advisory services for economic development projects nationwide.

 

http://www.arielinternationalcenter.com/aic/aboutus.jsp

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/03/inew_center_in_cleveland_hopes_to_attract_international_business.html

 

 

 

 

Wow, this sounds awesome!  It's fantastic seeing new life pumped into old buildings like this. 

This is exciting -- with a very off-the-path location.  This will be located at 1163 East 40th Street -- approximately e40th and King (calling it 40th and St. Clair takes a little imagination).  I wonder what can be done to better integrate this facility with the main AsiaTown Core -- additionally i wonder if there if there is a way for this development project to begin to revitalize Kirtland park.

i gotta admit, the negative cleveland.com'ers are outdoing themselves on this one.

^No joke.  I had the same reaction  Some particularly moronic commenting, even by their standards.

 

Thanks img about the location info.  Definitely not a high visibility project, but always makes me happy to see one of our cool older industrial buildings get repurposed rather than demoed.

The building is actually quite visible from 90. I pass by it everyday.  They just installed windows today....I'll drop by this weekend to snap some pics.

A few pics of the building:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjames0408/?saved=1

oh yeah that is a beautiful warehouse building. i can picture it. this is great news that it is being put back in service, especially for such a commendable enterprise. sounds like it will function as a sort of world trade center. excellent!

I'm curious if anythings happening there. Its website doesn't appear updated at all, still announcing an event for May 2011 on its front page. The links for 'space availability' and 'reservations' still go nowhere. I hope its still evolving/happening.

Although website is not working, the windows were just put in. Something is happening there...it just may be a little delayed:)

Good to hear, thanks.