^

I meant the practice facilities.

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.

 

I count 8,600 -- not including the 200 new-hires per month at Rock Financial. Funny how we in Cleveland are happy about the 10-50 tech jobs we're drawing every few weeks or so from the suburbs to downtown. I'll take 'em, but what is Detroit doing to bring 'em en masse to the big bad city?

Well, that said given the choice between Greater Clevelands regional economy and Detroit's, I would pick Cleveland's any day of the week.

I know, but that's not what I'm saying. What happened to cause that many jobs to move to downtown Detroit?

Maybe it's a matter of degrees... it had to get SO bad there before a turnaround was inevitable.  I don't know.  I'm confident Cleveland will get hers, but aside from what's happening around the Clinic and University Circle, I don't know where it will come from.  I feel like we have to grow our own businesses in this (bio-medical) sector before we'll see this kind of growth downtown.

 

On the other hand, it seems that Progressive would be our Rock Financial here in Cleveland and they've got more land out there than they know what to do with...It would be great, though, if they decided to move to the city...  Isn't it Peter B. Lewis that wants University Circle to think bigger???

Their mayor threatened to bust some caps in plenty of asses would be my guess.  :lol:

One drawing card for the Hudson's site is that it is in a state renaissance zone, which waives most taxes for up to 12 years. Jackson said the city would prefer as many office personnel on the site as possible because it can collect city income tax from future workers. One Kennedy Square also is in a renaissance zone.

 

This might have been a factor, as noted in the article.

 

I, too, believe there's some booming local companies that we can draw to the urban core. Progressive might be one of them (as an expansion, not a relocation). Perhaps there are younger, growing companies locally that can be offered assistance to consolidate their local offices or join the big time by opening up a significant presence downtown.

You still can't beat Downtown for its connections to local banking, legal and municipal headquarters!  And the rents are actually lower, on average, than in the suburbs.  However, when you add parking to the mix...well, there's your difference.  Enter public subsidy!

detroit, by far with credits and such is the cheapest city to do business in, within the midwest.

 

However, if i remember correctly, cleveland's not very far behind

^Sounds like that ought to be advertised more!

^have you seen our mayor?

Yes, I cover City Hall. I haven't heard her talk about it as part of a general marketing campaign. I know she's said it to Office Max and other specific companies. But unless she's planning to contact every company in the U.S. (and even overseas), a general marketing campaign is probably a better idea.

kjp,

 

whoops, even though i haven't lived there for six years, i still consider myself a detroiter first. Therefore i was referring to kwame thugpatrick

Ah.

I don't think that is how he spells his name, especially after he took that huge diamond stud earing out earlier this campaign season

Pray Clevelanders, pray for Detroit!  I know this isn't UrbanMich.com, but a Rock Financial headquarters in downtown Detroit would be sweet.  And Detroit has been a shining star in the midwest as far as suburb to city relocations.  What is the city doing right? Not sure, truthfully.  GM moved from within the city, but brought in at least 2,500 workers from the suburbs.  Compuware moved in a little over 3,000.  Onstar, Saab, EDS, and Visteon about 3,000 combined.  The renaissance zone designation is definately a boost.  But this has been in place for a while, so companies aren't running over each other to take advantage of the tax breaks.  Land could be cheaper in downtown Detroit than certain burgeoning suburbs, I believe Compuware rec'd their parcel for $1.  Also, two of the Campus Martius sites have underground parking garages built by the city to stimulate development.  Infrastructure improvement also has to be noticed and taken into account.  New water mains and roadways, and a magnificent public square at the heart of Campus Martius can only help spur spin off investment.  Redico, the real estate company that took over for Kern Woodward Associates, also has done a great job of attracting tenants.  I think I heard that Kern's "middleman" costs proved to be to much in the years that they were in control of the Campus Martius sites and that led to potential tenants balking at the added costs.  Redico is doing something very right, for Detroit at least. 

 

It also helps having one of the world's largest corporations set up shop in your downtown.  GM has a lot of clout and influence on their suppliers and customers, and GM's renovation of the Renaissance Center has been nothing short of incredible.

^Thanks for the description.

Welcome Woodward.

Not to be too critical, because Detroit is a much more wonderful city than the reputation it is stuck with, but I think the rapid influx to the city from the suburbs is due in part to the fact that EVERYTHING was in the suburbs.

 

I think Detroit is going to continue to blossom, but I think if Kwame does not mature quickly, it will slow the progress of the city.

Yeah, he needs to stop laying waste to downtown buildings!

what you actually miss the madison lenox and the statler?

 

pshaw, those crappy pre-depression hotels!

mid-2006, eh?  any murmurs on where they'll go?  It seems like the May Company Building would be an idea spot...

I'm glad to see this guy taking an intrest in helping Cleveland economically. It shows that he must care about the city too!!

no, his heart is in livonia

Who's isn't?

his heart will get handed back to him on a platter if he does not get lebron better supporting talent!

Good news!

 

Quicken loan center opening date: April 3

 

 

 

12:46 p.m.

 

Fifty people will start work April 3 at the new Quicken Loans Internet Home Lending Center in downtown Cleveland, the company announced today.

 

Michigan-based Quicken's owner, Dan Gilbert, owns the Cavaliers. The lending center, the company's first facility outside Michigan, will be on the fifth floor of the Forest City-owned MK-Ferguson Building, 1500 West Third Street.

 

As announced last September, Quicken expects to eventually employ 300 to 350 people there within three years. For hiring information, click here.

 

That's a start. I wonder if the MK Ferguson building has room for the full 300+, or if this site is merely a stopgap?

 

Looks like they will hire 15-25 new people each month until they

reach 300-350 employees.  I'm disappointed that it will be in the

MK-Ferguson Plaza. I wish that the loan center helped to remove

some vacant first floors from our city streets. At least its in downtown.

KJP,

 

Its posted on Cleveland.com.  Click on the link within the news release and it talks about how they are taking 45,000sq in the MK-Ferguson plaza.

Update from today 3/23, the jobs going into Tower City

 

Quicken Loans Internet Home Lending Center to Open in Downtown Cleveland's MK-Ferguson Building on April 3, 2006; Center Projected to Create More Than 300 Jobs and Generate Between $25 and $30 Million in Annual Salaries

CLEVELAND--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 23, 2006--Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and Quicken Loans Chairman and founder Daniel Gilbert, who also is majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers and operator of the Quicken Loans Arena, today announced that Quicken Loans' new Internet Home Lending Center will open in downtown Cleveland on April 3, 2006. This is the first out-of-state facility for Quicken Loans, which is the nation's largest online home lender. The company is based in Livonia, Michigan.

 

 

The Quicken Loans Internet Home Lending Center will be located in the MK-Ferguson Building (the former U.S. Post Office) at 1500 W. Third Street in Cleveland's Central Business District. Quicken Loans has leased 45,000 square feet on the building's fifth floor from Forest City Enterprises Inc. The space currently is being renovated to incorporate the company's state-of-the-art technology and home loan training facilities.

 

Led by 11-year Quicken Loans veteran, Vice President Jeffrey Perry, the Internet Home Lending Center will initially open with 50 employees who will advise and assist clients in all 50 states with their home financing needs. Quicken Loans will continue to hire and train approximately 15 to 20 new employees per month in Cleveland. The new location is expected to create between 300 and 350 new positions within the first two or three years. When fully operational, the center is projected to generate between $25 and $30 million in annual salaries and $3 to $4 billion in annual closed loan volume.

 

https://www.quickenloans.com/mortgage-news/quicken-loans-internet-home-lending-center-open-downtown-clevelands-mkferguson-building

 

There were enough fluff quotes in that press release which, if placed at the base of Terminal Tower, it would save the life of a suicide jumper.  :sleep:

Now thats what I'm talking about!!! 

turns out frank jackson has been trying to woo the entire quicken loans HQ, gilbert basically said 99.9% chance no.

^

I read an article on Skyscraperpage.com that said that Cleveland was a long shot for the Headquarter's. There is absolutely no way Gilbert will leave Michigan, and hopefully he chooses to re-locate in downtown Detroit. It would be nice to see this new office not only reach its goal of 300-350, but also surpass it and add even more jobs in downtown Cleveland.

I always felt it was pretty ridiculous to think that he would move the whole thing here.  He loves Detroit.  Granted if he really loved Detroit, he would move it downtown.

Should we merge these two threads?

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=2592.0

Should we merge these two threads?

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=2592.0

 

yeah, why not, we're basically discussing the same thing twice now.

"Just when I thought I was out.."

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Thursday, March 23, 2006

 

More Quicken news: Cleveland HQ a possibility

 

 

 

4:36 p.m.

 

Cleveland has a chance to pick up a lot more corporate jobs, Quicken Loans Inc. Chairman Dan Gilbert told The Plain Dealer today. To be exact: 3,500.

 

The company, now based in the Detroit suburbs, is considering building a new national headquarters. Quicken Loans is considering only Michigan and Ohio. A decision is expected in three to six months.

 

"Cleveland, because of the other businesses we have there now, is certainly a place we would look at," Gilbert said. "We're always open to talking."

 

The challenges of relocating 3,500 employees to a new state, however, would be a factor in any decision, Gilbert said. He spoke to the paper as he announced the April 3 opening of a loan center in downtown Cleveland.

we got a parking lot on public square....

^I bet he would want the lot in front of the Q that was proposed for the Cavs.

Or is he using us just to get a good deal from Detroit??

^That sounds far more likely to me.

I would guess he's trying to scare detroit, too. I don't think it's right for Ohio to try and be poaching from Michigan and vice versa cause both economies are in the crapper, but 3,500 jobs would do quite alot for downtown's merchants and the city's tax revenues.

I hate the idea of stealing jobs as well...maybe the company with  REALLY explode and create enough jobs for both cities!  Wouldn't that be nice!

While I don't like intra-metro thievery, I have no problem whatsoever in accepting another city's jobs. Of course, I'd rather take them from the Sun Belt than from a fellow Great Lakes city. I'm sure Chicago felt real guilty when they got BP and Office Max from us...

 

I'd welcome Quicken with open arms and any other incentives we're capable of offering. But I suspect that's what Gilbert wants to sweeten the deal with Detroit.

While I don't like intra-metro thievery, I have no problem whatsoever in accepting another city's jobs. Of course, I'd rather take them from the Sun Belt than from a fellow Great Lakes city. I'm sure Chicago felt real guilty when they got BP and Office Max from us...

 

Good point lets go out and get those jobs! I still think it is unlikely that they will relocate due to having to move 3,500 people. It's fun just to speculate what would/could happen....It's been kind of slow in here lately.

3,500 jobs * an average of 250 sq ft per office employee=875,000 sq ft of office space= what, an Erieview Tower?

 

Of course, I agree that he is probably just trying to turn up the heat on Detroit.

yeah, gilbert would be looking to for something to take the edge off of the employer and the employee's share of the city income tax, considering the average income of a quicken loans employee is around 80,000

3,500 jobs * an average of 250 sq ft per office employee=875,000 sq ft of office space= what, an Erieview Tower?

 

That's about the square footage of the Higbee building.

 

By the way, the U.S. Department of Energy estimates the average space per office employee is 387 square feet, which includes common areas.

I don't know why, but I feel like there are a lot of signs that indicate uprooting the Quicken Loans HQ and relocating it here is a real possibility. At least the news seem to indicate to me that there is a greater chance of this happening than there ever was with OfficeMax. Does anyone else feel the same way?

 

OfficeMax in Shaker (though started there) had been owned by this company in Chicago for a while that was serving as the OfficeMax headquarters. When the execs talked about their desire to consolidate its operations under one location, it seemed like Cleveland had a good chance for a variety of reasons, but looking back you have to admit that it was unlikely that the Chicago-area HQ was going to uproot all its offices here when they wanted to consolidate their operations after such long abesentee management.

 

This Quicken Loans situation is a little different. Before they even open their planned office here, they announce they might consider Cleveland as a possibility for a relocated HQ. They apparently brought all the employees here for a weekend last year out on the town highlighting the city's great attractions and assets.  You have Dan Gilbert saying great things, and of course he is an owner of the Cavs. You have to wonder if a possible HQ move hasn't been the plan all along, or at least a real possibility. I just find the sequence of Quicken Loans announcements very interesting and unlike anything I think we have seen before.

 

I think the city has really been working on its high tech initiatives. We have the Tech Czar working on a lot of projects. I think Euclid Avenue for instance has become really wired with really high-tech something-or-another cables actually running underneath in the vaulted corridor underneath. I've heard about this mentioned in news articles about tech companies moving downtown and attracted to the sheer high-tech infrastructure that is downtown now. Also, that project with Intel and Digital Cities and One Cleveland, and the Ingenuity festival. Maybe the city has really sold Cleveland's image as an up-and-coming high tech city, and maybe Detroit doesn't have similar initiatives nor the image Quicken would like to have for its HQ.

 

In addition to the increasingly high tech profile of the city, maybe Cleveland is actually more economically sound than Detroit. Cleveland has always seemed to have a strong financial industry, which Quicken Loans might be attracted to as well. the prestigeous Federal Reserve Bank Branch (which employees a lot more people than people realize), Key Bank/McDonald, National City, DFAS, Progressive, and the presence of Hunington, Fifth Third Bank, Chase, and Deloit.

 

Maybe Cleveland also offers a lot more for young professionals in terms of urban living downtown. It is one of the Top Ten emerging downtowns of the country if I recall. I think the Warehouse District is looking great and probably very attractive for college grads. The Flats East Bank, Avenue District, East Fourth, and other smaller projects throughout the city are also looking great. I was only briefly in Detroit about a year ago. It has been about 6 years when I was in Detroit last. I was in the area and stopped there for the Taste of Detroit or something. There were people there- not much- but the rest of the streets downtown looked so dead. Like a depressing ghost town scene to the extent that I don't think has ever really existed in Cleveland. It was nothing like the Rib-Cook off. I'm sure Detroit has improved since then, and I'm not really qualified to say, but I don't think Detroit offers an impressive up-and-coming downtown and will struggle a lot more than Cleveland's efforts. Don't people say that though the two cities are similar, Detroit is like Cleveland but without the glitz?

 

Maybe Detroit doesn't have the same things to offer, or have the same momentum going on in the city. This company seems to be growing, and it seems like the company might want to identify with a city that is growing or wants to grow in the same cultural direction as the company. I think Quicken Loans is strongly considering a move here.