http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1110018673236120.xml

 

Cavs owner might bring 300 jobs to Cleveland

Saturday, March 05, 2005

Olivera PerkinsPlain Dealer Reporter

 

Dan Gilbert's purchase of the Cavaliers may come with an added bonus for Cleveland: up to 300 new jobs.

 

Gilbert, who owns the Livonia, Mich.-based Quicken Loans, an online home lender, is considering opening a Web/call center in Cleveland. The company is also considering locations in Michigan and Arizona, said Elizabeth Jones, Quicken's vice president of corporate communications. The center would employ 250 to 300 people, she said. Jones said the decision will be made in the next few months.

 

.........

An interesting blurb from "Generation C", a blog on cleveland.com:

 

"Rock Financial, subsidiary of Quicken Loans, owned by Cav's new owner Dan Gilbert is having a weekend of fun for all its employees the weekend of September 10th in Cleveland. Basically they are bringing in 5,000 employees, based mostly in Michigan, to Cleveland to tour all the museums and all the other fun stuff we have here. They are also getting their own private Black Eyed Peas concert at "The Q" (sorry to interrupt, but the Q? Geeeez) a.k.a. Gund arena that Saturday. The average age of the 5,000 people is 23 years old. An unconfirmed rumor says that they could be opening up shop in Cleveland now that Gilbert is the Cav's new owner, which would be nice if it's true. This could potentially be an introduction to the City for future employees!"

 

Now just think about that one. Another company, Rock Financial moving to a vacant office in Downtown. And 5000 23 year olds running around looking for a place to live close to home. Hmmmm, we have around 8 thousand people living in downtown now and Chris Roynane expects that number to hit 20,000 by the year 2020. How ahead of the game would be be? Keep your fingers crossed on that one. "

 

This isn't the first time that I've heard Dan Gilbert tossing the idea around of moving Rock Financial to Cleveland. This would be an absolute godsend if he did, as that would be five thousand new jobs in the area, and most likely in downtown. That could fill up a chunk of the vacancy rate downtown, and as Marcus writes in his blurb, that would be 5,000 young professionals in Cleveland, working (and hopefully living) downtown. Farfatched? I don't think so. Gilbert is the majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He owns Gund Arena, he has put Quicken Loans (Rock Financial)'s name on his arena. And the guy doesn't have any real tie to the Detroit area anymore. Why wouldn't he move his company to Cleveland, where he can be located in the same area that his NBA franchise is? In past interviews, Gilbert has definately stated he wants to at least open a customer service facility in Cleveland, preferrably downtown. But the question has to be raised - if Gilbert is merely opening a call center or service center here, why the hell would he fly every employee he's got to Cleveland, throw them a company-only concert at QUICKEN LOANS ARENA (formerly Gund Arena), and give them a general all expenses paid tour of the city of Cleveland? Somehow I don't think a customer service center is what Dan is thinking. Sounds to me like he's introducing his employees to Cleveland in advance of a move here. In any event, I'll keep my ears to the ground on this one and let you know what transpires.

If this happens I will be one happy man.  :clap:

I'll believe it when I see it, but yeah - if he's truly bringing 5K people to "check things out" - I seriously doubt it's just to boost employee morale.

 

5,000 new downtown workers - I can't even fathom the kind of boost that will bring.

 

 

 

 

average age of 23, i find that statistic a little hard to believe.....but then again, i dont' work in mortgages.....

Exactly, MayDay - not only would vacancy drop, taxes for the city increase, but think of all the spinoff from 5,000 new bodies downtown - more demand for places that serve lunch and dinner, newspapers, magazines, entertainment, business services etc...  If a good portion of these people elected to live downtown, the spinoff would only be magnified for the city and area.  I don't want to hope against hope, but man do I want this to happen.

I doubt that he would move the company, pope back me up on this one, but Rock financial is pretty much a household word in greater Detroit.  They sponsor everything.

 

Now, Rock would definitely stay in Michigan....but Quicken loans, the company outside of Michigan.......that might move, or start up a new office, and maybe bring 20% of the 5000 people who are visiting.

 

I wonder if Gilbert is playing a little bit of politics with this party.  Maybe he was taken a bit by suprise when the design review board rejected his 7-11 type sign for the Gund.  This could be a hearts and minds, and a few $100,000s, campaign to make Cleveland like Gilbert as much as Detroit does.  (at least that is what it seems like to someone who lived in Ann Arbor a grand total of 2 months)

Wait, where are all of these 5000 people staying, the Gund ala Astrodome style?

Well he could be trying to leave town since Quicken Loans has come under fire....

I doubt that he would move the company, pope back me up on this one, but Rock financial is pretty much a household word in greater Detroit.  They sponsor everything.

 

Well BP/SOHIO, Higbees, May Co., Office Max were all synonymous with Cleveland and we see where those companies are today.  Just something to consider.

This is on the Cavaliers website today:

 

Watch the live press conference on Thursday, September 8th at 1:00 p.m. with Dan Gilbert, Chairman and founder, Quicken Loans and Cavaliers majority owner, and Mayor Jane Campbell as they announce a Quicken Loans initiative for downtown Cleveland.

 

Not sure what this is about... maybe just them debuting the new arena sign, but maybe this means he is announcing an office opening up here.  Even if he was moving Quicken Loans to Cleveland, it'd be a bit soon to be announcing THAT in a press conference.  Methinks this may be an announcement of an office opening.  Either way I'm glad to hear it.  Now cmon Dan, just move your headquarters here...

hasn't he said for a while that he was going to open up a cleveland office? (just not move the whole darn thing)

I really do wish Rock Financial/Quicken Loans would pick up and move to downtown Cleveland from where it's based now, which I believe is Livonia, a large inner ring Detroit burb.  I'd rather have a gigantic corporation be based in the downtown of another city than in a suburb of my hometown metro. 

 

It's really wierd how similar Cleveland and Detroit are, yet Cleveland has a much better reputation and so much more synergy about it's downtown than Detroit does.  When TRW Automotive moved it's headquarters from Cleveland to metro Detroit, they set up shop in Livonia.  I bet the TRW execs would laugh at the notion of a downtown Detroit hq.  And Rock Financial doesn't have an office in downtown Detroit. 

Woodward,

 

Welcome to the board! 

 

I thought that TRW moved to LA.  Also, I really wouldn't consider Livonia an inner-ring suburb.  I consider Ferndale and Royal Oak innerrings.

This is on the Cavaliers website today:

 

Watch the live press conference on Thursday, September 8th at 1:00 p.m. with Dan Gilbert, Chairman and founder, Quicken Loans and Cavaliers majority owner, and Mayor Jane Campbell as they announce a Quicken Loans initiative for downtown Cleveland.

 

 

An initiative? This sounds more like some type of loan program for Clevelanders. 

300 Jobs To Be Created In Cleveland

Quicken Loans Facility To Open In Area

 

POSTED: 12:23 pm EDT September 8, 2005

 

CLEVELAND -- Hundreds of new jobs are on the way to Cleveland.

 

NewsChannel5 reported Mayor Jane Campbell is expected to announce the opening of a new business facility operated by Quicken Loans.

 

Campbell and Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert will be explaining what the new operation is all about during a news conference Thursday afternoon.

 

NewsChannel5 and NewsNe5 will have more details. Check back often.

 

 

:clap: :clap: :clap: 300 jobs! Go Gilbert!

Wow. That's great! 

We need more info.  great news...but where will they be housed?  higbee bldg, possibly?  Hopefully 300 new jobs is the first step in an exodus from Detroit. 

Here is some more info:

 

Quicken Loans to add jobs downtown

 

By JEFF STACKLIN

 

2:04 pm, September 8, 2005

 

Downtown Cleveland employment figures are expected to grow by 350 sometime next year, when Quicken Loans Inc., the online mortgage lender that made Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert a wealthy man, plans to open a new telephone and web mortgage center.

 

As of yet, no specific building for the center has been identified. Mr. Gilbert, chairman of Quicken Loans and majority owner of the Cavaliers, said during a press conference Thursday afternoon that he expects it to be “in proximity” to the Cavaliers’ home, Quicken Loans Arena, formerly known as Gund Arena.

 

Mr. Gilbert said he could have put the center elsewhere, but added, “We thought it was the best move to come” to Cleveland.

 

The center will be the fourth for Quicken Loans, which is based in Livonia, Mich. It is the first such center outside of Michigan. The center is expected to open in mid-2006 and eventually have a payroll of $30 million. The center initially will have 50 to 100 employees, but within six months is expected to employ 350 workers.

 

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20050908/FREE/50908002/1004/newsletter01

 

 

We need more info.  great news...but where will they be housed?  higbee bldg, possibly?  Hopefully 300 new jobs is the first step in an exodus from Detroit. 

 

 

Good News!  I don't like the higbee building for anything but a department store.

 

There are plenty of other buildings downtown, with Class A office Space,  that can meet the needs of this company.

 

I guess we'll have to wait and see if these are "new" positions or positions "relocating" from D-twat!

 

We really need to fill in the bottom floors of the May Co. building.  I hope that it will be placed there.

We need more info.  great news...but where will they be housed?  higbee bldg, possibly?  Hopefully 300 new jobs is the first step in an exodus from Detroit. 

 

 

Good News!  I don't like the Higbee building for anything but a department store.

 

There are plenty of other buildings downtown, with Class A office Space,  that can meet the needs of this company.

 

I guess we'll have to wait and see if these are "new" positions or positions "relocating" from D-twat!

 

 

The article says that only about 5% will be relocated jobs.  I think we need to fill up the May Co. building because it is such a black hole.  It really sucks the life out of Euclid Ave and sets the tone for the street.  I would rather fill up our first and second floors than fill up, ie, floors 18-23 of an office tower.  It would have a much more powerful effect.

We need more info.  great news...but where will they be housed?  higbee bldg, possibly?  Hopefully 300 new jobs is the first step in an exodus from Detroit. 

 

how about instead on focusing on stealing jobs from another metro (detroit and cleveland have lost their share) how about we focus on creating new jobs?

^Amen Pope

Chicago looks ripe.

I am glad, and a bit suprised, that only 5% would be relocations.  Cleveland and Detroit need to work together more, we have similar problems.

I did not think Gilbert would run out on Detroit.

yeah, and since the kmart-sears aquisition/merger kmart has left detroit.......

Cavs Owner To Locate 350 High-Paying Jobs Here

Cleveland Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, who also is chairman of Quicken Loans, on Thursday said he’s selected Cleveland as the site for a new loan office that will create 350 high-paying jobs, as in $85,000-$90,000 a year in salary and commission. Office will be located downtown, as close to Gund Arena as possible, Gilbert said. Set to open mid-2006. Jobs will be for mortgage bankers/loan officers who will process incoming customer calls/ loan applications. The office will not telemarket, so it’s not a call center.

 

How much space in square footage is needed to house 350 people?  What is available in the Gund neighborhood that would fit that need?  Does anybody see any new construction now or in the future from this?

 

Article Removed

hey, what about that new ontario st project?

Article Removed

 

the Rock Financial move might be a pipe dream, but the 350 jobs announcement is for real!  It's really exciting and great to see that the owner of the team sees the connection between a successful franchise and a successful home crowd.  And even if those 5,000 visitors this weekend are just here for the weekend, good for Gilbert bringing some spenders to town for a good time!  I think the hotels and restaurants owe this guy a beer.

its hard to tell what else this could mean.  on one hand maybe he is thinking down the line of moving to cleveland, or adding more gradual to the cleveland center.  on the hand this could just be the fact that cleveland isnt used to people like this being so enthusiastic about downtown.

 

all i can say is that i was downtown today and there seemed to be a lot of "spectators" walking around taking photos and whatnot. 

We need more info.  great news...but where will they be housed?  higbee bldg, possibly?  Hopefully 300 new jobs is the first step in an exodus from Detroit. 

 

At 11-12 floors, the Higbee's Building is way too big for a modern downtown department store.  Every big city that has managed to hang on to it's retail grand dame has downsized in those big old buildings where the retail-floor space is only a floor or 2 with the upper floors rented out to offices.  Even though the Halle Building has no anchor store, I think they did a good job keeping that building viable -- it's a heck of a lot better than empty Higbee's and May's... I think Higbee's would be an excellent spot for Quicken and would only be a block from "The Q" and directly on top of our Rapid hub.

 

If I'm not mistaken, Higbee's upper floors have roughly 600 to 700,000 sq. ft of convertible office space outside of the existing main retail floor and the basement (where the Men's store used to be) -- the whole Tower City complex holds nearly 3M sq ft of such space.  And if Gilbert's weekend "visit" for the Quicken 5,000 is a preview to him ramping up a major office move over the 350, I'd be all for them moving into Higbee's... You couldn't get more of a win-win situation.

 

Good News!  I don't like the higbee building for anything but a department store.

 

There are plenty of other buildings downtown, with Class A office Space,  that can meet the needs of this company.

 

I guess we'll have to wait and see if these are "new" positions or positions "relocating" from D-twat!

 

At 11-12 floors, the Higbee's Building is way too big for a modern downtown department store.  Every big city that has managed to hang on to it's retail grand dame has downsized in those big old buildings where the retail-floor space is only a floor or 2 with the upper floors rented out to offices.  Even though the Halle Building has no anchor store, I think they did a good job keeping that building viable -- it's a heck of a lot better than empty Higbee's and May's... I think Higbee's would be an excellent spot for Quicken and would only be a block from "The Q" and directly on top of our Rapid hub.

 

If I'm not mistaken, Higbee's upper floors have roughly 600 to 700,000 sq. ft of convertible office space outside of the existing main retail floor and the basement (where the Men's store used to be) -- the whole Tower City complex holds nearly 3M sq ft of such space.  And if Gilbert's weekend "visit" for the Quicken 5,000 is a preview to him ramping up a major office move over the 350, I'd be all for them moving into Higbee's... You couldn't get more of a win-win situation.

 

Good News!  I don't like the higbee building for anything but a department store.

 

There are plenty of other buildings downtown, with Class A office Space,  that can meet the needs of this company.

 

I guess we'll have to wait and see if these are "new" positions or positions "relocating" from D-twat!

 

While the retail component of Tower City has been pretty dull, they have done a pretty decent job regarding keeping office space filled. The Landmark office towers seem to have a pretty good occupancy rate, and of course, Terminal Tower remains as one of the pre-eminent office buildings in Ohio. Then there's the Skylight office buildings....

 

I think one of the best-kept secrets of Cleveland is that Chase Financial relocated hundreds of jobs from New York City to the Skylight Office Tower. One of their employees (a former New Jersey resident) bought my parents' house in Brunswick and was telling me that Chase liked Cleveland for its costs of living and the air service to New York. He said my parents' house in Brunswick is twice as large as the one he had in New Jersey, but cost less (though he's paying more for commuting here).

 

But, since the media here tends to focus only on bad news, Chase's relocation of its processing functions to Cleveland seemed to get the ho-hum treatment.

 

I think the Higbee building would be a terrific location for Quicken. So, what other large blocks of vacant space in downtown buildings needs to be tackled? I'm sure there's others. My desire is to halve the vacancy rates to below 10 percent downtown to warrant the construction of a new office building -- to get rid of that friggin' eyesore parking lot on Public Square. It is the embarassment of Greater Cleveland.

 

KJP

I still am curious as to how many sq. ft 350 people need.  I am sure it is far less than the available space at higbees, but is it too much for any other rehab space in the area or does it merit possible new construction?

I vote for May Co.  Higbee's doesn't look as obviously vacant as the bottom floors of May does.  Also, we would get better foot traffic on Euclid as Tower City would suck in Quicken's lunch crowd from Higbee moreso than it would from May.

And of course, 350 jobs from a fast growing company can quickly become 1000, 2000 or more jobs.

I missed your post about Chase, KJP.  That really is great news, maybe other corporations will take note.

Back when ESPN Zones were a big deal, I thought May Co would be perfect, a public square entrance and a (close to) Gateway entrance.

When were the Chase jobs moved here?

Several years ago, at least.

 

KJP

still speculation, but this doesn't look well for cleveland:

 

http://www.detnews.com/2005/business/0511/06/D01-372823.htm

 

Rock Financial eyes Detroit HQ

 

Livonia firm may need new hub when lease is up; some say site could be former downtown Hudson's.

 

By R.J. King / The Detroit News

 

 

DETROIT -- Livonia-based Rock Financial/Quicken Loans Inc., one of Metro Detroit's fastest growing companies, is scouting locations for a new headquarters including the site of the former Hudson's department store downtown, according to people familiar with the plans.

 

Rock Financial on Friday confirmed it may need a larger headquarters when the lease on its Livonia headquarters expires in four years. The company, which has 3,400 employees and is hiring about 200 employees per month, also has workers in Auburn Hills, Farmington Hills and Troy.

 

A few observations:

 

1. It is normal for a company to consider different cities in order to determine the most cost effective site.

 

2. When did Gilbert ever hint at bringing anything besides the 300 Quicken jobs to Cleveland? 

 

3. While he does own the Cavs, his allegiance and heart are still in Detroit.  I would find it difficult to believe that he would give up on his town altogether.

re 1: certainly so

 

re 2: I think some people got a little ahead of themselves

 

re 3: also very true, i'd also love to see livonia lose 3000 jobs to detroit given livonia's history

Livonia?? The epicenter of charm deserves those jobs over downtown Detroit.

 

Having lived in Detroit for a while, I would love to see those jobs move downtown.  Anyways, the traffic is horrible out there.

yeah, hypothetically this could be a nice 1-2-3 combo for detroit in a five year period. 1) compuware 4000k jobs 2) visteon IT 400 jobs 3) quicken loans/rock financial 3000 jobs.

 

i hope livonia dies a slow painful death.

For my brief time in greater Detroit, I could never see Rock moving out of Michigan.  For the simple reason that Rock only does business in Michigan.

 

Quicken loans, however, could still one day set up shop in Cleveland.  But I also hope Rock goes downtown.  That is really the only part of Greater Detroit I liked.  (Ann Arbor is a whore)

^actually the local media says quicken and rock will be part of the same building

That would be a really nice pick-up for Detroit. To get 7,000 jobs to re-locate downtown in a span of 5 years is amazing. Rock Financial/Quicken loans seem to be good corporate citizens so I would find it hard to believe he would ever move the headquarters to Cleveland. Hopefully Gilbert decides to keep the Cavaliers in downtown Cleveland.

^the cavs lease with gund arena is somewhere around 24 more years left