12 minutes ago, LibertyBlvd said:

What is the clearance under the walkway from the tower to the shack?

13’6” is the legal maximum truck/ trailer height in Ohio. So it’ll be some figure over that. 

Topped out!

 

Well, the glazing/screen wall will probably be a few feet higher, but you get the gist.

 

 

Edited February 2, 20241 yr by Mov2Ohio

A spire protruding from that front corner would’ve been really cool.

Thanks @ArtMasterCLE and @Geowizical!

 

 

Sherwin-Williams parked its HQ parking options

By Ken Prendergast / February 2, 2024

 

When brainstorming the next phase of Sherwin-Williams’ global headquarters in Downtown Cleveland, a big question is what to do with all of those big metal boxes that people bring to work with them each morning. On average, each one weighs 2 tons and requires at least 300 square feet of storage space, including driveways and ramps. Like health care, the cost of community transportation falls onto American corporations unlike their European and Asian counterparts.

 

MORE: 

https://neo-trans.blog/2024/02/02/sherwin-williams-parked-its-hq-parking-options/

Fantastic article/opinion piece. Ken.  Well researched and written. 🏆

2 hours ago, marty15 said:

A spire protruding from that front corner would’ve been really cool.

Agreed I keep hoping that SW is going to surprise with a 100' mast. 

6 hours ago, LibertyBlvd said:

What is the clearance under the walkway from the tower to the shack?

I believe it to be 18'

Let the speculation/wishful thinking begin. Here's what my amateur urban planner brain thinks the best approach with for the remaining land. Build 5-6 story buildings along St. Clair/West 6th up to HQ2. Fill the space with some combination of offices for SHW partners and restaurant/bar/retail. Use the rest of West 6th and Superior for the HQ2 tower. Fill the triangle with a hotel/patking deck that connects everything to Tower City.

 

We all love to speculate on potential plans and Ken's article gives us food for thought. For me the most interesting thing to read was the possibility of turning the triangle into usable space. I've always seen it as sort of a gap tooth in the Tower City development. I would love to see it replaced by a structure.

23 minutes ago, cadmen said:

Let the speculation/wishful thinking begin. Here's what my amateur urban planner brain thinks the best approach with for the remaining land. Build 5-6 story buildings along St. Clair/West 6th up to HQ2. Fill the space with some combination of offices for SHW partners and restaurant/bar/retail. Use the rest of West 6th and Superior for the HQ2 tower. Fill the triangle with a hotel/patking deck that connects everything to Tower City.

 

We all love to speculate on potential plans and Ken's article gives us food for thought. For me the most interesting thing to read was the possibility of turning the triangle into usable space. I've always seen it as sort of a gap tooth in the Tower City development. I would love to see it replaced by a structure.

The Crowne Plaza at Euclid and Huron is a good example of how a hotel could look sitting on an odd, triangular site like that. 

There are so many boxy buildings downtown. It would be really nice to see building with different shapes.

It will be interesting to see how this area's growth happens once the tower is finished and occupied. Obviously SHW's is a company that is growing rapidly and should have planned some things differently. In the long run it might just be a good thing for Cleveland's future developments to expand upon. 

Not too shabby! Definitely a big jump in height/style in just one week.

 

Guess I was getting quite a bit of cabin fever - most forecasts I saw were calling for a cloudy day. Definitely not the case and not complaining but at a balmy 36F I figured I'd bundle up and snap a few pics. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Indeed, it is an outstanding day out there!!

So glad they moved away from the initial design reports of a rectangular box - towards this more nuanced general shape and much more distinctive roofline. 
it’s gonna be a very noticeable signature of the Cleveland skyline 

6 minutes ago, CleveFan said:

So glad they moved away from the initial design reports of a rectangular box - towards this more nuanced general shape and much more distinctive roofline. 
it’s gonna be a very noticeable signature of the Cleveland skyline 

Yep, the tee shirt shops better start updating their inventory  😁

Thanks for the pics @MayDay and the UrbanOhio billboards.

 

1 hour ago, MayDay said:

Yep, the tee shirt shops better start updating their inventory  😁

And the local TV news sets.  Except for Fox 8 of course with their live cam background.

On 2/2/2024 at 7:27 PM, KJP said:

Thanks @ArtMasterCLE and @Geowizical!

 

 

Sherwin-Williams parked its HQ parking options

By Ken Prendergast / February 2, 2024

 

When brainstorming the next phase of Sherwin-Williams’ global headquarters in Downtown Cleveland, a big question is what to do with all of those big metal boxes that people bring to work with them each morning. On average, each one weighs 2 tons and requires at least 300 square feet of storage space, including driveways and ramps. Like health care, the cost of community transportation falls onto American corporations unlike their European and Asian counterparts.

 

MORE: 

https://neo-trans.blog/2024/02/02/sherwin-williams-parked-its-hq-parking-options/

A way to alleviate parking concerns is for SW to offer a Downtown/OC/Tremont/Hingetown housing allowance of $1,000/month to any employee that proves their residence is in any of those districts and officially gives up the need to use the parking garage.

 

This would likely be much cheaper than building new structures and would foment near or in-downtown living.

 

win-win for everyone 

16 hours ago, ragarcia said:

A way to alleviate parking concerns is for SW to offer a Downtown/OC/Tremont/Hingetown housing allowance of $1,000/month to any employee that proves their residence is in any of those districts and officially gives up the need to use the parking garage.

 

This would likely be much cheaper than building new structures and would foment near or in-downtown living.

 

win-win for everyone 

Cleveland Clinic has something similar where they are giving their employees allowances for housing nearby whether that be to buy or renovate.

In the “midst” of descending fog…

The view from above the future Irishtown Bend Park on West 25th Street

 

Edited February 4, 20241 yr by ArtMasterCLE

Just saw these on r/cleveland from u/Obv2003

 

 

6 hours ago, JB said:

Cleveland Clinic has something similar where they are giving their employees allowances for housing nearby whether that be to buy or renovate.

 

Kudos to Cleveland Clinic!! You can incentive behavior and obtain great results for your company and your region.

 

Plus, it is so much cheaper for companies to do this than for them to build parking structures or have to shuttle (as the Clinic always has to do) them around.

 

Plus, employees get the benefit of avoiding time in traffic and the employer gets an employee that is likely willing to put in extra time (usually by leaving later) because they know all they have is a mostly enjoyable 5–10-15 minute commute to their nearby residence.

 

I would think Sherwin-Williams would get hundreds if not thousands of “buyers” if they offered this allowance. If I was them, I would even go into the $2,000/month allowance while being very clear to their employees that they are not building more parking.

It's a disgustingly cold night to be a toe

 

 

Mike Collier just posted this photo on Twitter

 

https://x.com/mikeacollier/status/1754493971416387912?s=61&t=8m6OVkUD6kdclFnJD1n_Lg

 

^ So it has now reached its final height.

I wonder who will have the offices on the floors where the signage is installed on the outside of the building.   IIRC, the logo will be installed near the top, but I would think that's where the executive offices are going to be.  Certainly they're not going to have their views spoiled by giant letters mounted outside.  There's probably some clever solution though, like maybe wood paneled conference rooms behind where the lettering goes.

16 minutes ago, JohnSummit said:

I wonder who will have the offices on the floors where the signage is installed on the outside of the building.   IIRC, the logo will be installed near the top, but I would think that's where the executive offices are going to be.  Certainly they're not going to have their views spoiled by giant letters mounted outside.  There's probably some clever solution though, like maybe wood paneled conference rooms behind where the lettering goes.

 

That floor is mechanical, not actual office space 

3 hours ago, JohnSummit said:

I wonder who will have the offices on the floors where the signage is installed on the outside of the building.   IIRC, the logo will be installed near the top, but I would think that's where the executive offices are going to be.  Certainly they're not going to have their views spoiled by giant letters mounted outside.  There's probably some clever solution though, like maybe wood paneled conference rooms behind where the lettering goes.

 

The last floor that is designated for offices is floor 36. Floor 37 is designated as Corporate Storage. So Floor 36 will have the offices for the executives and the supporting staff.

And mechanical would be floor 38?

8 minutes ago, LibertyBlvd said:

And mechanical would be floor 38?

 

The breakdown I saw didn't include a floor 38 only floors 1 - 37. So if there is a floor 38, I would imagine so.

Here's the basic floor plans showing the loads for the top floors of the building above the offices which end at 36.

I don't see why they couldn't just build the second tower on top of a Parking Garage, similar to The Beacon. They already own the property, and they can add retail space facing the street on the first level if the City requested it. That lot at the corner of Prospect & Detroit looks too small to me for a reasonably sized Parking Garage.

It's a shame they didn't design the garage currently under construction so that offices/apartments could be added-on top later if demand is sufficient. That's a loss of potential real estate revenue.

Edited February 6, 20241 yr by Nexus_6

1 hour ago, Nexus_6 said:

I don't see why they couldn't just build the second tower on top of a Parking Garage, similar to The Beacon. They already own the property, and they can add retail space facing the street on the first level if the City requested it. That lot at the corner of Prospect & Detroit looks too small to me for a reasonably sized Parking Garage.

It's a shame they didn't design the garage currently under construction so that offices/apartments could be added-on top later if demand is sufficient. That's a loss of potential real estate revenue.

This was all discussed upthread with the same points being made. 

@Boomerang_Brianshared a great daytime pic from Mike Collier on X (Twitter) early today - the link he posted also contains a short, super cool nighttime video from MR.Collier  showing SW from Euclid Avenue at night.

 

 If you look closely (especially on your desktop) you can really see the framework for the crown and get your first real look at it in a nighttime setting from the grand old avenue. 

From Owen Varga on FB

 

 

Owen Varga's FB photographs are breathtaking! I also love to see a human scale brought to the construction photographs as the workers construct the crown

I had a couple of comments on the SHW parking discussion...

1. I agree their parking strategy was a little short sided.  No need to debate that, but hey, hindsight is 20/20 right?

2. SHW currently owns 0 parking spaces (since they sold Breen anyway) and are relocating from a few blocks away.  They aren't adding 3500 employees to downtown.  They are moving many employees to Brecksville, but moving others to downtown.  Whatever the net add to downtown is, they'll still have way more parking than they currently do.

3. SHW hasn't provided parking for employees for 100 years.  I doubt the plan was ever to have 1 space/employee

4. Being a self contained island is what they'd do in the suburbs.  There are pros and cons to that mentality.  In a downtown setting, I think everyone understands that not everyone will park onsite.  At least, I think the talent SHW hopes to attract with a downtown HQ will understand that.

5. SHW is not without options.  They could still build a large garage under HQ2, maybe that adds another 1000 spots.  They could lease spots at Tower City which they presumably do currently, they could partner with a nearby surface lot to lease the land/parking spots or build a second garage off-site.  These arrangements are common.

6. $1000/month stipend for housing is WAY more expensive than building a garage.  A good budget for a parking garage is $35k/space.  That means after 3 years of a $1000/month stipend, they'd be better off building a garage.  The garage would be a much cheaper alternative and it's an investment they would own.

7. For a lot less, they could offer free RTA tickets, or reimburse employees who park at other garages.  

1 hour ago, GREGinPARMA said:

From Owen Varga on FB

 

 

These are awesome. Owen is about to get a call from SHW legal counsel.

Another great set of photographs can be found at Drone Ohio on FB

@Paul in Cleveland  We're finally seeing what we've all been waiting for; the final shape of the building!   So with our eyes remaining firmly fixed on the future, I'd like to say that SW would score some major points with me if they recreated the brick warehouse look on their W. 6th and W. St. Clair fronts.  They'd probably even get some national attention and cred out of it.  I always find it sad the way the warehouses were torn down leaving a scar between those blocks and Public Square.  How beautiful could that approach be?  (with thanks to Paul in Cleveland's photo!)

 

Oh, and PLEASE leave those trees!

 

 

Edited February 6, 20241 yr by chrino21

Yeah, I'm not sure where the $1,000/month housing allowance is coming from, but even for a large company that's a good bit of money on a per employee basis. 

 

It's also at least 3x more expensive than just paying for parking downtown. Probably more like 4, 5, or even 6 times more expensive when you account for leasing in bulk. That's not even considering that it's 10x more than a monthly RTA pass. I'm fairly confident that Sherwin Williams would look at either of those two options long before they consider housing allowances. 

1 hour ago, chrino21 said:

@Paul in Cleveland  We're finally seeing what we've all been waiting for; the final shape of the building!   So with our eyes remaining firmly fixed on the future, I'd like to say that SW would score some major points with me if they recreated the brick warehouse look on their W. 6th and W. St. Clair fronts.  They'd probably even get some national attention and cred out of it.  I always find it sad the way the warehouses were torn down leaving a scar between those blocks and Public Square.  How beautiful could that approach be?  (with thanks to Paul in Cleveland's photo!)

 

Oh, and PLEASE leave those trees!

Yes!  That's what Weston proposed for the area many years ago.

3 hours ago, marty15 said:

These are awesome. Owen is about to get a call from SHW legal counsel.

 

He got out onto the 44th floor outdoor deck, didn't he?    #jealous.

Does anyone know what the typical interior floor plans will be? Will the floors be open layouts or private offices?

@chrino21is absolutely correct. The best way to connect the old Wharehouse District with the modern headquarters is with a transitional design and materials that merge the two. It wouldn't be difficult or expensive either. All it would take is an esthetic that is sensitive to the properties. 

 

Fingers crossed.

I believe my renderings for HQ2 covered this pretty well