UHHS mulls central office site

Owners offer up 668 Euclid building as possible downtown locale

 

By STAN BULLARD

 

6:00 am, January 30, 2006

 

 

 

University Hospitals Health System of Cleveland is considering the consolidation of hundreds of administrative employees from throughout the region into a single office — a move that could revive downtown Cleveland's dormant 668 Euclid Ave. building.

 

Thomas Zenty III, president and CEO of the UH system, confirmed the far-flung hospital system is looking at putting into one location back office, administrative, public relations and other support personnel from both its University Circle campus and other parts of Greater Cleveland.

 

Local real estate industry insiders say 600 jobs and 100,000 square feet of space could be involved in the consolidation. Mr. Zenty refused to comment on those parameters, saying, 'We're very early in our search.' He also wouldn't say which sites are under consideration.

 

However, one location that definitely is interested in the UH system as a tenant is 668 Euclid Ave., the former Atrium office complex owned by the Goldberg family, which also owns Ohio Savings Bank. David Goldberg, the Ohio Savings vice chairman who handles the family's real estate interests, said the family has an agreement with a developer he wouldn't identify who is pursuing the UH deal.

 

'I've kept the building off the market hoping this would happen,' Mr. Goldberg said. 'It's a very exciting proposal.'

 

http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-5258130/UHHS-mulls-central-office-site.html

 

If that building can be reused with that many employees, it will be a big boost to Lower Euclid Avenue. That area seems to be the "dead spot" between East 9th and Public Square, what with the 668 building and the surface parking lot next door. Besides, the 668 building simply looks terrible.

This would be fantastic news.  Lets hope that we hear something soon.

Wow, this would be huge!  This would be great news for Downtown and Euclid Ave.

 

I'm surprised at the quote that Goldberg has been keeping the building off the market all this time.  I know I haven't heard a word since the County offices selected the Ameritrust complex, but why would he actively keep it off the market?  Well, I guess this is why...

 

I'd also heard a peep here and there that the building wasn't fit to be inhabited...that it was structurally unsound.  Apparently, this is false!

 

 

It was Corwin Thomas, the former real estate business writer for the PD that mentioned in his column that the Atrium's foundation wouldn't support a renovation. I am glad to hear that the building can be saved.

Anybody have a pic of the building?  I'm not quite sure of the area they're talking about.  If someone could post a pic or a link to another thread with one it'd be appreciated!

This is excellent news for downtown and for UC too.

This would be the building in question, when it still had the 60s facade - it's across from the Holiday Inn Express:

 

If this building is renovated, then Euclid is pretty much set between Public Square and E.9th.  Sure, there is still a parking lot and a parking garage to build on, but otherwise the street would be sufficiently occupied.

here is a shot i posted on another thread of what it looks like today from steet level:

 

imagine that with new windows and a restored facade and with that hideous awning torn down!  I'm assuming the only reason it's still up is that there may be a fear of falling debris from the upper levels in its current state. 

 

Does anyone know the entire square footage of the building?  It's massive and will do wonders for Lower Euclid if/when it's restored and occupied!

I really like the idea of some UH office worker walking out the door and jumping on the BRT to a meeting at UC.  Not sure if this will ever happen but a pleasant thought.

 

Anyone know if there is still a nice old facade lurking under the 60s metal skin of the building at the southwest corner of Euclid and 9th?

it looks like the metal was applied on top, so in theory it should be there in some capacity.  Although I think the CVS entrance today looks much better than than the old pillars.  what happened here? i had no idea the entrance to city club used to be so grand.

 

here is a shot of the old exterior from clevelandmemory.org:

 

^ I believe those are two separate buildings. The Schofield Building (now the Euclid-Ninth Tower) is right at the corner, and the City Club Building was apparently separate.

 

Here's some pics of the 668 Euclid Avenue/Atrium Building from "back in the day":

 

It's the white building at right (the larger building next to it is the old Hippodrome Theater and office building, which was demolished for the surface parking lot...ugh!)

 

 

 

You may get a kick out of this c1900 photo. This is what was there before the Atrium Building (and Hippodrome) was built -- a row of low-level commercial structures, around the time Euclid Avenue was kicking into high gear...

 

FANTASTIC news!  :-o I too thought the building was doomed. Let's keep our fingers crossed on this one.

 

Urbanlife, that's actually the City Club building in your historic photo, not the Atrium.

 

 

Urbanlife, that's actually the City Club building in your historic photo, not the Atrium.

 

that photo was meant to answer StrapHanger's previous question about the metal facade on E.9 and Euclid, which that photo shows the original exterior of the e.9 and euclid corner as well and the original entrance to the city club. 

I really like the idea of some UH office worker walking out the door and jumping on the BRT to a meeting at UC. 

This was one of the first things that popped into my head. It would be great for the ECP. I would imagine that the UH move will(hopefully) take place the same time the ECP is finished. Another positive is that the number of jobs at UH is only going to grow. Who knows maybe 10 years down the line they will build something on that surface lot.

Thanks for the pics Urbanlife (I thought I remembered photos of a nice facade under that corner building) and KJP.

 

If I recall correctly, the 668 Euclid Building was built as a department store with an arcade to Prospect and the highest few floors were added (much like the May Company building) years after construction but long before it's conversion to an office building.  All to say that if redeveloped, this building will have shown astounding resilience.

 

Straphanger,

 

Good job! I found in several books of mine the following:

 

It was originally a four story-tall building, built in 1907 for the William Taylor, Son & Co. Department Store, with an arcade through to Prospect. It was first located farther west on Euclid, west of East 4th Street, and relocated to the new building, listed as 630 Euclid Avenue. I don't know when the additional five floors were put atop the existing building, but the colorized photo I posted earlier looks like it happened by about 1920, judging from the style of cars and the Peter Witt streetcars on Euclid.

 

I've scanned and posted a photo below of what the building originally looked like with four stories....

 

 

I may be pushing it a bit, but I think you can actually spot a color difference in the facade of the original four stories and those above.  It's been a while since I've walked down Euclid, but I recall that it is evident too in the cross section of the facade visible in the eastern face (i.e., if you could see a little above Urbanlife's first photo).

Yep, I see the shade difference, too, right above the fourth floor.

wow, nerdiness as I have never seen it before...gotta love it!

^ Go to a railroad flea market some time. I saw two guys at one of these argue over whether a locomotive whistle was actually from a steamboat or not! Very sad...

Ugh. Not liking any of this news, including the abandonment of the Atrium idea or the demolition of the nurses' building.

What is more important to this region -- filling an ugly corporate big box in the suburbs or reviving the biggest single blighting influence on the city's premier downtown avenue? I'm disappointed.

 

UH pursues OfficeMax building in Shaker Hts.

 

By STANN BULLARD, SHANNON MORTLAND

 

6:00 am, September 11, 2006

 

 

University Hospitals may provide the city of Shaker Heights with the salve for the wound that was created by the departure of OfficeMax.

 

Three sources familiar with the situation, who spoke on condition they not be identified, said the hospital system is conducting due diligence to buy the big office building formerly occupied by OfficeMax as a new home for UH’s back-office employees.

 

The 227,000-square-foot building at 3605 Warrensville Center Road became vacant late last year after OfficeMax decided to consolidate its headquarters operations in the Chicago area.

 

UH’s pursuit of the OfficeMax building means, at least for now, that the hospital system is passing on options to consolidate the back-office employees in either the 668 Euclid Building downtown, where it might have spurred a renovation, or in empty space at the Halle Building, 1228 Euclid Ave. However, people close to downtown advocates say they hope to snag some hospital jobs at some point in the future.

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20060911/SUB/60908032/1005

Sad. I heard that the UH bigwigs got scared when the Atrium article was leaked in Crains and that the Atrium might have won out had the story not been leaked.

That blows. I will say, however, that it could have been a LOT worse ... we could have seen UH using the excuse of a "tight" eastside office market to gun for building their own ugly office park amidst the gluttony of the 271 smorgasbord. At least this will increase the viability of redeveloping the area around Warrensville Center & Van Aken. I know it sound totally defeatist, and I too would prefer to see them downtown, but I'd rather the tax revenue go to Shaker Heights than to some Lake County mega-village.

The 271 corridor will take the biggest hit with this move. UH has a lot of workers in Mayfield and Pepper Pike that will be transferred to the OfficeMax location.

Sad. I heard that the UH bigwigs got scared when the Atrium article was leaked in Crains and that the Atrium might have won out had the story not been leaked.

 

That's why I kept my mouth shut and my keyboard silent. When a newspaper is the only one that wins by printing a story first, it often means that everyone else loses. Here is the case in point...

From the PD (please excuse the typo in the headline...it's just a headline, after all!):

 

UH to buy former OfficeMax headquaters

 

9:52 a.m.

 

University Hospitals is expected to announce this afternoon that it is moving 900 non-clinical employees into the former OfficeMax headquarters building in Shaker Heights.

 

The announcement has been rumored for weeks, with many in the real estate community buzzing that UH had abandoned plans to open an administrative office downtown.

 

"We have looked downtown and outside the city," UH spokeswoman Loree Vick told The Plain Dealer last week. "Really, our campus is outgrowing its boundaries" near University Circle.

 

UH is buying the 227,000-square-foot office complex, located on Warrensville Center Road, to "free space for clinical expansion on the University Hospitals Case Medical Center campus," according to a media advisory sent this morning.

 

More at Cleveland.com

 

Here's the PD's full coverage. Encouraging about the tax-sharing.

 

UH moving some staff to Shaker Heights site

Old OfficeMax HQ to house hospital offices

 

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Thomas Ott

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

Shaker Heights - Goodbye, OfficeMax. Hello, University Hospitals.

 

A year after the office supply company stunned Shaker Heights with news that its headquarters - and hundreds of jobs - would move to Chicago, the gaping void is full and then some.

 

University Hospitals announced Tuesday that it will consolidate 900 high-paying administrative positions at the site on Warrensville Center Road.

 

The project also is a shot in the arm for regional cooperation through tax sharing in Cuyahoga County. In what could become a model arrangement, Shaker and Cleveland will split income taxes from more than 300 employees who will leave the hospital system's University Circle campus.

 

University Hospitals will consolidate legal, finance, marketing and other departments at the 8-acre site in Shaker Heights, making it home to 80 percent of the system's nonmedical positions, Vice President Steven Standley said.

 

Shaker expects to reap $900,000 a year in income taxes from a payroll topping $50 million, more than it ever received from OfficeMax, which recently finished moving its headquarters.

 

 

More at Cleveland.com