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So Columbus would like to see Cleveland lose more jobs then they would gain.  That's the state working together.  Good job guys!

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It is an awkward situation for Ohio reps...balancing the interests of two cities.  The real goal is to have more than three DFAS centers.  Supposedly Cleveland is the fourth place center. 

 

  • 2 weeks later...

jobs to stay!!

 

plus, from committee coverage, there appears to be an additional 300 jobs added.  "Total jobs in Cleveland to exceed 1500."

 

GREAT NEWS.

WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!  good job Steve LaTourette..and everyone involved.  Look for discussion now about a new home for these jobs.  Possible new construction in flats.

Finally, some good news.  Its been a rough economic stretch.

I hope we don't take any of the 300 from downstate.

 

Let's screw Indy

WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!  good job Steve LaTourette..and everyone involved.  Look for discussion now about a new home for these jobs.  Possible new construction in flats.

 

Everyone in Metro Cleveland should send this man a handwritten thank you note!

sweet! this is a great win for the cleveland area.  glad to here this, this made my day.  :clap:

Saw this on the ticker of the Ohio News Network today and it made my afternoon!  Great recovery...  Though, I don't know that this means they'll be building new facilities...

The restaurants at the Galleria will sure be happy.  A possible 1300 swing will greatly affect business. 

 

I agree with MGD.  I think that Wolstein's proposal is kind of an after-thought.  I would be an expense to move all those workers to a new location.  Additionally, the Federal govt would no longer receive the rent. 

whew dodged a bullet today. i dk how anyone can stand roller-coaster rides like this! hopefully some stability in jobs is the start of a broader local economic turnaround.

 

according to kucinich's website it seems the offices will move to brathenal:

 

http://kucinich.house.gov/news/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=29558

Well, today when the experts were reading the tea leaves they took note that a place in Louisiana was spared because the community offered alternate places to house the (whatever it was in LA) and the fact the cleveland was offering the same made people more confident.

 

I like run on sentences

From Crains

 

Cleveland DFAS jobs saved

 

By MARK DODOSH and JAY MILLER

 

2:10 pm, August 25, 2005

 

 

 

Updated 4:40 p.m.

 

The Base Closure and Realignment Commission has decided that the Cleveland operation of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service will not be closed, as was recommended by the U.S. Department of Defense.

 

More at Crainscleveland.com

WHEW!!!  I'm glad that we get to keep our DFAS Jobs.  However...

 

I personally would like to know what is the psychological cost of living here.  We've had SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many ups and downs in this area during the past couple of years... it has to have some psychological toll on the residents that live here.  The news media in my opinoin has kept our "we can't do that here" complex by constantly putting out negative news stories about the area.  They even bashed Barbara Byrd Bennett out of town, and she was really making a difference.

Great news. Now, let's string together more wins and make this contagious!

 

BTW, does this mean the jobs will remain at the Federal Building, or would they need to move to a less-expensive location, such as the office building Wolstein proposed at the north end of the Flats East Bank?

 

KJP

"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck

From all reports, the willingness to build a new facility with less rent was a consideration.  Now with possibly 400 additional jobs, new construction seems likely to me.  The plain dealer mentioned two possible sites in the flats.. Wolstein's project would certainly be one of the possible sites.  The other...who knows?  Even if they stayed in the fed bldg, it's a great boost to the plans on that side of downtown.

I don't know how many of you saw this, but it was in the 8/27/05 PD:

 

 

How Cleveland won the DFAS war How Cleveland fought the Pentagon

Saturday, August 27, 2005

Stephen Koff

Plain Dealer Bureau Chief

 

Washington - You might not know their names, but their work saved more than 1,000 jobs in Cleveland and gained a promise of more to come.

 

Just as impressive, they took on the Pentagon and won.

 

Defense Department officials wanted to move most of their local payroll processing to three other cities.

 

They said Cleveland was too expensive, and they found the city lacking in several other areas.

 

...

 

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

[email protected], 216-999-4212

 

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/112513552837090.xml&coll=2


Key players helped save Cleveland jobs

Saturday, August 27, 2005

 

These four Greater Clevelanders used a strategy that avoided grandstanding and instead built a fact-based case that picked apart the Pentagon's findings.

 

Fred Nance

Attorney

...

 

Carol Caruso

Vice president of government advocacy, Greater Cleveland Partnership

...

 

Debbie Setliff

Press secretary for U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette

...

 

Chris Nance

Aide to U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones

...

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/112513539437090.xml&coll=2

 

the backstory comes to light.  it's good to put a name to who your heros are. now lets get their emails and let'em know! thx

the good news reflected from another angle, the lorain journal editorial:

 

Struggling Lorain can take heart from Cleveland's victory

08/29/2005

 

A fresh breeze of good news caressed Cleveland late last week as more than 1,000 local defense jobs were saved from the ax after a hard-fought battle against the Pentagon.

 

The Defense Finance and Accounting Service center in downtown Cleveland had been targeted for closure by the Pentagon. Closing the city's fourth-largest employer would have meant a loss of $65 million in payroll, $128 million more in related spending, as well as $1.3 million in city income tax revenue.

 

...

 

www.morningjournal.com

  • 3 weeks later...

Bush signed off on the board recommendations for DFAS.  The 1500 jobs are definite now.

Great news.

 

KJP

"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck

Has there been any new word on a possible location for these workers?

  • 4 weeks later...

Cleveland likely to get even more defense jobs

 

Pentagon to add at least 200 payroll positions

 

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

 

 

 

Washington - Cleveland's Defense Finance and Accounting Service office is likely to get at least 200 new jobs beyond the 1,500 that the Base Realignment and Closure Commission ordered that it receive, Sen. George Voinovich said Tuesday.

 

DFAS Director Zack E. Gaddy gave Voinovich the good news in a telephone conversation last week, the Cleveland Republican senator said.

 

When it consolidates 26 offices around the country into five, the Pentagon accounting agency is likely to put more payroll jobs in Cleveland, which already processes Navy pay, Voinovich said.

 

...

 

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

 

[email protected], 216-999-4212

 

www.cleveland.com

What an amazing turn of events we've had with this story!  It's so great to see that we've actually one one of these fights and that it should continue to get better!

'At least 200 additional jobs'.  Also, the note that Cleveland is prepared to accept additional jobs by providing a 'new building'.  Lots of possibilities here.  More good news!

I jumped at that "new building" bit too, but then I thought that with the rents they cited, it probably just means occupancy in a "different" building that already exists.  That makes more sense.  Then again, I could be wrong!

I jumped at that "new building" bit too, but then I thought that with the rents they cited, it probably just means occupancy in a "different" building that already exists.  That makes more sense.  Then again, I could be wrong!

 

thats the same thing i was thinking.

Even occupancy of existing stock is great news in a soft d-town market.  Does everyone recall the original name for this thread?  It was 'Very bad news for Cleveland'.  Now we have gained 300-500 new jobs and possibly several hundred more.  The city, state and local reps should keep pushing for any additional jobs from the centers that are closing. 

Earlier, in the Quicken jobs thread I asked how many sq. ft. are required for 200-300 people.  I still don't know...but here again we are looking at absorbing or creating space for that number.

Here's a totally unscientific approach:

 

Let's say each employee averages a 10x10 cubicle (some are smaller, some are larger but that seems reasonable to me). 10x10 = 100 sq. feet. 100 square feet per employee X 300 employees = 30,000 sq. feet. Tack on ancillary space (conference rooms, storage, etc.) and depending on how everything is configured, I'd ballpark that 50,000 square feet for 200-300 employees wouldn't be out of the question. So new construction probably wouldn't be anything skyline-altering, but certainly a decent-sized structure.

Well, that type of square footage would probably just be part of a larger structure.  For example, the only that Wolstein is proposing for the East Bank.  If you have a tenant signed on pre-construction for a good amount of space, your financing is going to be that much better.

 

PS: who has a 10x10 cubicle???  mine's more like 5x8!!!  Good thing I'm only part-time!

 

PS: who has a 10x10 cubicle???  mine's more like 5x8!!!  Good thing I'm only part-time!

 

When I was at SOHIO the cubes were HUGE, most were the size of a small two windowed office.

 

Even the size of the cubes that the admin. staff occupied were pretty big.

 

Granted this was 1989/1990 and the building was pretty new, so i would say SOHIO is the exception to the rule.  Although, now that i think about it, I had a buddy who worked at Bank One who had a huge cube and one IMG with a huge cube.

 

MGD...maybe you've been assigned to the low rent/low density cube.  lol  :cool2:

 

 

That calculation is for 300 workers. Any possibility that all 1,700+ will be consolidated into a new site?

 

If so, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, they estimate that there is an average of 387 square feet per worker in office buildings (the average for all commercial buildings is 766 square feet per worker).

 

According to OfficeFinder.com, in typical office scenarios, you can estimate 175-250 square feet per employee. If there are large executive offices, then you need to estimate more square footage for those. OfficeFinder.com estimates typical "presidential" offices range from 150-400 square feet. Secretarial and administrative space, on the other hand, will range from 60-110 square feet.

 

So since this is a governmental operation, let's round down to about 300 square feet per office worker. For 300 employees, that's 90,000 square feet. For 1,700, now we're talking 510,000 square feet. For comparison purposes, check out these building stats (courtesy of http://www.downtownclevelandpartnership.com/office.html)...

 

Penton Media (formerly Bond Court Bldg.), E. 9th at St. Clair Ave., 21 stories tall, 553,000 sq. ft.

 

One Cleveland Center, St. Clair Ave. at E. 9th St., 32 stories tall, 525,000 sq. ft.

 

SBC Technical Center, Huron Rd., 24 stories, 491,000 sq. ft.

 

Fifth Third Center (formerly Bank One), Superior Ave., 28 stories, 475,000 sq. ft.

 

So, if DFAS wants their own building, better get ready to build a new 'scraper downtown. Might I suggest that God-awful parking lot on Public Square. Please!!!!

 

KJP

 

P.S. in case anyone was wondering, the Celebreze Federal Building (where the DFAS is currently located) has 990,000 square feet. It's a big-ass building. Anyone know how much vacant space is in the building? Given the high lease rates, I think DFAS needs their own spread (of course, I want to see a new 'scraper in town, and I want that Eyesore on the Square to go away!!!).

"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck

Drumroll please......I bet the Ratners get their Higbee's building occupied with the DFAS

 

just a hunch

I see at the following link that the Higbee Building has 895,000 square feet. That would more than satisfy the DFAS's space requirements, and have room for expansion, plus an entire first floor for restaurants, retail and common areas if they so desire.

 

http://www.downtownclevelandpartnership.com/pdf/euclid.pdf

 

You may be right Punch (or is it now Hunch?).

 

KJP

"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck

While on the theme of Cleveland jobs, it has been announced that the VA will include an additional 300 jobs in its consolidation at the University Circle facility.  Last year, they announced that 1000 jobs would be moving from Brecksville.  Now, the number has jumped up to 1300.  By 2008, they will spend $250 million to expand the present facility to accomodate the growth. 

That's amazing!  This slipped in under my radar somehow...

 

Who ever would've thought I'd be happy to see more federal government influence on the region???

I just wish we had more private-sector jobs, but I'll take `em where I can get `em.

 

Is someone keeping a scorecard on all of this??

 

KJP

"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck

  • 1 month later...

More good news for DFAS!

 

 

More From The Plain Dealer   |   Subscribe To The Plain Dealer

600 new DFAS jobs possible

Cleveland center barely escaped closure

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Becky Gaylord

Plain Dealer Reporter

...

 

"Six months ago we thought Cleveland was going to lose 1,000 jobs at DFAS," said U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette, a Republican from Concord Township. He anchored the race to keep the office here and is among those who've been briefed on Gaddy's recommendations.

 

"Now, not only is DFAS here to stay, but within a few years we should have 2,100 people working to ensure that our men and women in uniform get paid and on time," he said.

 

...

 

Thousands of workers will be displaced when the military pay and accounting agency gets streamlined from 26 sites into five.

 

Some of those people may transfer to Cleveland, but most of the new jobs will be filled by local applicants. Cleveland is among the cities, according to Pentagon data, with the deepest source of potential workers.

 

...

 

www.cleveland.com

great news!  Any word if all those workers could fit in the existing federal building?

Let's see... 1,800 employees plus 400 contractors would require about 660,000 square feet of office space. The Federal Building has 990,000 square feet. Of course, the contractors can be located anywhere. But if the federal employees and contract workers were put in the same building, that would be one big building! See my message near the end of Page 3 of this string for comparisons.

"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck

IF they were to need a new building, I would rather see the building be built at the site where the "firestone garage" is on E12. I would like to try and keep all that federal stuff as close as possible to eachother. It would also help boost up the avenue district, perhaps encouraging people to live and work on E12

I'm partial to the parking lot on Public Square. That a parking lot exists on the central square of a major city is a major embarassment to Cleveland.

"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck

Only reason I dont want it on the parking lot on public square is that I want it to be the big #4 in the skyline someday

I know it is a long shot due to security reasons, but I would like to see them fill-up some of the old buildings downtown. i.e. 668 Euclid. I would really like to save the "parking lot" for private investment even though it may take another 20 years.

Only reason I dont want it on the parking lot on public square is that I want it to be the big #4 in the skyline someday

 

Who says it couldn't be? If all the DFAS employees and contract workers were put in the same building, we're talking something between 650,000 and 700,000 square feet. Here are several downtown buildings that are near that range....

 

The Tower at Erieview - E. 12th St. at St. Clair Ave. - 38 floors - 719,000 sq. ft.

 

Justice Center - Lakeside Ave. at Ontario St. - 26 floors - 703,000 sq. ft.

 

Eaton Center - Superior Ave. at E. 12th St. - 28 floors - 633,000 sq. ft.

 

SBC - E. 9th St. at Lakeside Ave. - 16 floors - 596,000 sq. ft.

"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck

I wouldn't mind building at the public square site if the structure would be tall enough. However, it would be a government building.  Due to terrorist concerns, all new federal facilities must have a 50ft setback.  I wouldn't want that restriction placed on a new building on public square.

 

That said, what would keep them from hiring a private developer who would build space and lease it to the government?  Isn't that the idea with the Flats building?  There are two big office decisions that we have yet to hear about.  DFAS and Quicken Loans. Any word on when those decisions will be made?

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