May 17, 200718 yr My firm is now on board as the lobbyist for this project and when more news comes along I will update this thread, as it stands now we are approaching Strickland for a fairly large amount of TIF and other abatements, Mayor of Akron and Strickland both of whom are great friends with my boss want this to happen, its just a matter of economics at this point and how much revenue the state can part with in the interim.
June 6, 200718 yr Akron is the little city that could... I never cease to be impressed with how the city fights to be successful.
August 16, 200717 yr Developer: Goodyear deal near HQ plan still far away, company responds By Jim Mackinnon Beacon Journal business writer Published on Thursday, Aug 16, 2007  Real-estate developer Stuart Lichter thinks he is within weeks of getting an agreement with Goodyear on his part in building a corporate headquarters for the Akron tire maker. That does not mean the project is signed, sealed and delivered, Lichter said. It probably will not be until the end of the year before anyone knows whether Akron will be the site of the new Goodyear headquarters and related redevelopment, he said.  Lichter, founder and senior managing partner of Industrial Realty Group, discussed the Goodyear headquarters project and other subjects in a wide-ranging interview Wednesday at Canal Place, another of his Los Angeles firm's Northeast Ohio industrial redevelopment sites. ''I don't think I can sit here and say it's a done deal, but I think it's going well,'' Lichter said. ''I think it's going as well as a deal of this size and complexity can go.''  MORE: http://www.ohio.com
August 17, 200717 yr my buddy, graciesdad from UO just went over to GYT.. I'm excited for him, Akron and the prospect of GY re-defining itself as a younger corporation.
August 17, 200717 yr I will be very disappointed if Goodyear leaves Akron. It seems that today, companies are moving to the big cities or the south where it is warm. More of a convenience for the executives lifestyles than what's best for the workers. I would disagree that it is no different if they move 2 blocks or two miles. Imagine the moving expenses for the employees that Goodyear will have to pay if they move 200 miles!Â
August 17, 200717 yr Not only that but it would flood the housing market in a very soft housing market to begin with. Imagine 2-3000 additional houses going for sale all at the same time  Housing in Akron is already pretty inexpensive. To move that many employees to a richer housing market would be absolutely crazy.  The only gain might be climate if they moved south. It would disconnect GY from its roots. It would bring major upheaval to Akron and their own employees for years.  The only place I can see GY strategically going is where all other HQs from this area go- Chicago. Quaker Oats, Firestone, BP and I'm sure many others have taken that path. Does GY want to be a tadpole in a sea? Thats really not the company story. Goodyear should stick it out here since they have no other realistic option and the governments of Ohio are showing it a lot of loving.  Being as close to Chicago as Akron is, the primary benefits of moving to Chicago is pretty much negated. That would be central location, good accessibility, and large pool of talented white collar workers. Being primarily in the automotive industry, the place to be really still is in Ohio since thats pretty central to where cars are made. Its not that hard to draw high level workers to Akron.
November 30, 200717 yr Goodyear deal could be finished next week State agencies, company board have separate meetings scheduled to consider headquarters plan By Rick Armon, Stephanie Warsmith, Phil Trexler and Jim Mackinnon Beacon Journal staff writers Published on Friday, Nov 30, 2007  Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. appears poised to accept a deal to build a new worldwide headquarters in Akron, ending any fear the company might move out of the city and Ohio. The company, which employs about 3,000 workers locally, wants a new flagship headquarters to replace its current 80-year-old site off East Market Street.  Executives confirmed earlier this year they have been wooed by communities in other states since Goodyear's desire was made public. In Ohio, local and state leaders have been working behind the scenes for months with Goodyear to keep the company in Akron. Goodyear, meanwhile, said it would focus its efforts on the Akron development proposal through the end of the year.  MORE: http://www.ohio.com
December 1, 200717 yr I felt like cheering when I heard this on the news last night. Great news for Akron, losing Goodyear would have been devastating not only economically but psychologically as well to the Greater Akron area.
December 1, 200717 yr Great news! Too bad readers had to wait until the second-to-last paragraph to learn where the new HQ would be built. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 6, 200717 yr It is tentatively official.....press release from Goodyear..... http://www.goodyear.com/media/pr/23538ms.html  Goodyear Board of Directors Approves Plan to Keep World Headquarters in Akron #23538ms.1207  Tire company and developer reach tentative agreement to build new headquarters and redevelop old facilities for Akron Riverwalk complex. AKRON, Ohio, December 5, 2007 – The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Board of Directors has approved a plan that, when finalized, will keep the company’s world headquarters in Akron, Ohio.  [sNIP!]
December 6, 200717 yr There is a story in the beacon today about this. I wont post it because it is pretty long and a lot of it just rehashes what was said in previous stories, but apparently there is a lot more planned for the area besides the headquarters. I posted the paragraph about the additional development. If it is all built, it will be a billion dollar project. Here is the link if you want to read the whole thing. http://www.ohio.com/community/summit_county/12195091.html   [shadow=red,left]IRG, in turn, intends to buy and refurbish Goodyear's old digs along East Market Street and River Road. The developers have visions of new offices, a hotel, shopping, housing and more amenities, including an indoor ice-skating rink.   Retail complex planned   In addition, IRG is determined to bring a town center-type retail complex to the East Akron area along Martha Avenue.  Partly upscale retail with ornate streets and sidewalks, partly traditional ''big box'' stores, it could also have two hotels, restaurants, a cinema and a riverwalk park and bike trail along the Little Cuyahoga River to a largely undeveloped east side of town adjacent to Interstate 76.  Developers Stu Lichter and Christopher Semarjian say the project will come in four phases, the first of which begins with construction of Goodyear's headquarters in 2008 and ending with the East Market Street development and related projects that could stretch to 2014.[/shadow]
December 7, 200717 yr For the life of me I can't picture upscale retail in that area with those surrounding neighborhoods, but best of luck to them. Then again, wouldn't that project (retail, ice rink, etc.) make much more sense going downtown? It's too bad Goodyear can't relocate closer to the city center.
December 7, 200717 yr ^ I was also trying to imagine what they were trying to put in. I feel its going to be a lifestyle center ala Legacy Village. I looked up the size of Legacy in acreage and it comes to 67 acres. So they need a lot more acreage for their various GY buildings and parking. But I suspect they will place this around the poet streets. Thats going to be a massive chore in itself organizing various utilities and city services to redevelop that area: new sewers, streets, waterlines, electricity, and telecommunications. Perhaps they can land the Ikea... That would make this a destination at least for Northern Ohio.Â
December 7, 200717 yr I dont think having enough land will be a problem, as the land for this project covers 640 acres. It covers all the land south of I76 to archwood between kelly ave and massillon rd. It is not often that a sqare mile of developable land opens up in an urban area, so lets hope it is done right. I do wonder if new retail would be sustainable in this area, as chapel hill mall isnt too far from here, and the new power center in brimfield is only a few minutes down 76, but i guess we will find out. I do agree the neighborhood around the area isnt the greatest, but i think a project like this could go a long way to change that. Who knows, maybe they could find a way to incorporate the porno theater and strip clubs into the upscale environment. :-D.Â
December 8, 200717 yr Developer keeps finding industrial rebuilding chances in Ohio By M.R. KROPKO AP Business Writer  CLEVELAND (AP) -- Relaxing inside a small coffee shop on a wintry morning in downtown Cleveland, Stuart Lichter wore a heavy jacket when he probably needed a thicker winter coat. Swirling snow and biting wind isn't the climate he's used to at home in suburban Los Angeles. But Ohio keeps drawing him in, even on frigid, bleak December days.  The 58-year-old founder, president and managing partner of Downey, Calif.-based Industrial Realty Group LLC doesn't mind the cold when redevelopment opportunities are hot.  Before a meeting with bankers Tuesday, Lichter held a warm coffee in one hand and took repeated urgent calls on a cell phone in the other, putting some final touches on a $900 million deal he proposed about nine months ago to remake the corporate headquarters of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and its surroundings in Akron.  MORE: http://www.cleveland.com
December 9, 200717 yr jane campbell did something?? wow that was almost more intresting then the prospects of the new development detailed in the article.
January 27, 200817 yr Here's an Article from SiteSelection.com   The Akron Project: By the Numbers   • 450,000: total square footage (40,500 sq. m.) of Goodyear’s new world headquarters  • 3,500: total number of Goodyear jobs retained, including 500 contract workers  • 108: total number of years in which Goodyear has been based in Akron  • 1.2 million: total square footage (108,000 sq. m.) of new corporate, retail and residential space that IRG plans to build around Goodyear’s new south-side headquarters  • 800,000: total square footage (72,000 sq. m.) of office, retail and apartment space that IRG plans to redevelop at Goodyear’s old headquarters in north Akron  • 12,000: estimated total jobs that will be created or retained by the multi-part Akron development  • Seven: number of years in which all of the scheduled development will be completed  MORE: http://www.siteselection.com
September 17, 200816 yr Here's an update on this. Basically, the focus is on building the HQ surprise.. everything else comes later..  http://www.ohio.com/business/28363369.html  Goodyear complex coming together  No ground broken yet, but executives overseeing the work expect that the deal will close this year  By Jim Mackinnon Beacon Journal business writer  Published on Sunday, Sep 14, 2008  Debra Harrell has been involved in some mighty big and complicated development projects in her 26-year career with Industrial Realty Group. Converting the closed, 3,000-acre McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento, Calif., into a working business park comes to mind, the IRG senior vice president says.  CHOPPED
August 9, 201014 yr I just drove by where is this suppose to be going and they are doing a lot of street work and utilility work. Does anyone know when this is suppose to be complete?
August 15, 201014 yr Like any major construction project it will be done in phases. Street realignment and utility placement are first. Construction of the Goodyear Headquarters and some retail space with a 4-star hotel is next. Last phase calls for more retail and possibly a second hotel. Construction on buildings should start mid 2011.
August 16, 201014 yr This sounds like it will be an amazing project! I really wish that the city could promote construction projects like these more. I think if community members or even people looking to relocate to the area new about all the construction and plans for the future it might help bring people and more companies to the city. The Dayton Downtown Partnership is doing a great job and doing such that.
August 19, 201014 yr This sounds like it will be an amazing project! I really wish that the city could promote construction projects like these more. I think if community members or even people looking to relocate to the area new about all the construction and plans for the future it might help bring people and more companies to the city. The Dayton Downtown Partnership is doing a great job and doing such that. Â Â I dont see a reference between what Akron is doing and the Dayton Downtown Partnership? Confused me a little there. I'm guessing you mean the Downtown Akron partnership (DAP).??
August 21, 201014 yr Im sorry for the confusion. I don't mean the Downtown Akron Partnership. I am well aware of that organization, and what they are doing. I recently just visited the Downtown Dayton Partnership, and if you check it out they have renderings of almost all projects they hope to follow through with, the page is (in my opinion) better laid out, and it just looks more inviting. They have an amazing up-to-date video of the current and future plans of the city, and if I were looking at moving to a city about the size of Akron or Dayton I would like to see in which direction the city was going to take in the future. I wish DAP would follow Dayton's lead and do the same. Does that make sense?
August 21, 201014 yr This is the Great Downtown Dayton plan. http://www.downtowndayton.org/plan/ Thats a really nice video on their homepage...great production quality That's the homepage for the Plan. The homepage of the DDP has a lot of other info too: http://www.downtowndayton.org/  Here's the video from vimeo (it's also on youtube) for anyone interested: The Downtown Dayton Plan  Dayton and Akron could learn a lot from each other I think. Akron/Summit county has done a pretty good job at consolidating redundancies while Dayton has made real progress toward changing the trajectory of the center city in the last 10 years (Akron might have done the same, I don't know).
August 22, 201014 yr Thanks for clearing up the confusion. Its quite nice. I do remember seeing a video a few years back about Akron's future expectations/plans but they were mostly for the downtown area. Â To get back on topic, I have only seen a zonemap of what the Goodyear project is. I have not seen any building layouts/designs yet. I would love to see some. Â Too bad Bass Pro decided to not participate in this project. I would love to have one in or near Akron.
August 22, 201014 yr Yeah I agree I can't wait to see the renderings for the Goodyear project buildings as well. It seems like no one around here likes to make those public. I was interested to see what the Bridgestone Tech Center was going to look like but the only rendering available (or so I've found) is the one on site attached to the fence. Â Thats funny you mentioned Bass Pro. I just passed one in Florida last week and told my family if Akron was smart they would bring either them or Cabella's. I don't understand why we don't have one. There are plenty of outdoors things to do around Akron, you think we would have one. When I lived in wadsworth I remembered they were tying to bring one there, but of course that fell through.
August 22, 201014 yr Now I understand why Akron Metro RTA is proposing to make this location the interim southern terminus of an introductory commuter rail service between Hudson, downtown Akron and the Goodyear Headquarters. When I first heard of the rail proposal, I didn't understand why it would temporarily terminate at such an underutilized area. But now I see that it might not stay underutilized for long. Although the placement of the buildings makes its pretty auto-centric... Â http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,11978.0.html "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 17, 201014 yr Great Recession delayed ground-breaking soon for Goodyear HQ..  http://www.ohio.com/news/top_stories/112051484.html  Goodyear's headquarters moving along  Developer says progress made on financing for delayed project; construction may start in spring  By Jim Mackinnon Beacon Journal business writer  Published on Friday, Dec 17, 2010  Construction of the years-delayed Goodyear global headquarters could start this spring, says developer Stuart Lichter.  Lichter and his company, Industrial Realty Group, are negotiating a private and public financing package for the recession-delayed East Akron project. With the economy improving and credit access increasing, private money has become available to pay for the headquarters, Lichter said.  Lichter declined to give any specifics on timetables, discussions and what the financing involves other than to say that the project will not involve using millions of dollars in what are called federal ''recovery-zone bonds'' as proposed this summer by Akron public officials.  Â
January 26, 201114 yr Goodyear project gets help  New York City equity firm agrees to invest $98.5 million; state to kick in $10 million for headquarters  By Stephanie Warsmith and Rick Armon Beacon Journal staff writers  For months, rumors abounded that the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. global headquarters project was in jeopardy, with a private developer unable to secure financing because of the recession.  Now, however, the project appears to be progressing, with an equity firm in New York City agreeing to invest $98.5 million and the state tossing an additional $10 million into the $160 million deal.  http://www.ohio.com/news/114533284.html
January 26, 201114 yr Great news. I saw it on my news clips yesterday but I didn't get to read it until now. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
February 1, 201114 yr County, city approve Goodyear deal  By Rick Armon and Stephanie Warsmith Beacon Journal staff writers  Akron and Summit County signed off Monday on a $161 million government-backed deal to build a new global headquarters for the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.  The project — in the works for years but held up because of a lack of financing — is expected to break ground on the city's east side as early as March.  http://www.ohio.com/news/top_stories/114983269.html  some renderings there
February 2, 201114 yr Another milestone reached! :clap: "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 25, 201114 yr Glad this project is happening, but the overall design....meh. What do you mean? They gave at least 3 minutes of thought to those facades.
August 19, 201113 yr Goodyear HQ update http://www.ohio.com/news/goodyear-headquarters-begins-to-take-shape-1.230324
August 19, 201113 yr Glad this project is happening, but the overall design....meh. What do you mean? They gave at least 3 minutes of thought to those facades. Â rofl!
August 19, 201113 yr Are you really Rolling On the Floor Laughing? Really?? "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
September 2, 201113 yr Excuse the window glare..... They are making very quick work of those steel beams! The highest points are now about level with the top of the Innovation Center.  Â
September 2, 201113 yr Cool pic! The window glare adds character. Thanks!! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
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