Makes sense.  The time between will give them plenty of time to evaluate their options - FEB, Weston, East Ohio, Schofield, Breuer, space that will be created by shifts in office space throughout the CBD.  Things should be a lot clearer by then.

Great news!

Yes, the paper seems to only cover the looses. I am also starting to question the integrity or vision of some of these companies who move to the suburbs. Besides politics, at least philosophically, these days....you would think any progressive minded company would WANT to locate in a CBD where there is growing opportunity. Instead, we see many doing the same thing as what happened in the 60's-70's..the flight again...choosing to be in an auto dependent atmosphere. maybe this has something to say about the era in which people who make up such companies grew up in. Just a thought. Bottom line is in this day and age, you'd think the push would be to locate downtown again...and not repeat the trends of earlier times that saw the same thing.

I think it's a great neighborhood for a business to move into, actually, and a lot are. There are a number of start-ups in Perkowski's Tower Press and Bloch Buildings, and look at the amazing work being done a mile down Superior at Tyler Village ... nothing short of astounding how many suburban companies they have brought in. I would also think there might be some advantages for a marketing agency to co-locate with the region's largest newsprint publication, if nothing else as a subconscious hook for clients (heck, of course they're going to be able to get my event placement ... they work down the hall from the editor of the paper!).

Keller Williams Realty Greater Cleveland looks to boost presence downtown

Posted by Michelle Jarboe/Plain Dealer Reporter July 13, 2009 11:12AM

 

Keller Williams Realty Greater Cleveland is looking at ways to boost its visibility and drum up business in downtown Cleveland.

 

The real estate office, which currently represents condos and single-family homes throughout Cleveland, has been growing in recent months with an eye on expanding in the center city. Agents Mark Lastition and Scott Phillips Jr. have moved over to Keller Williams from Howard Hanna Real Estate Services. They've joined forces with agents including Janis Wirt, Jake Lohser and Bob Zimmer.

 

More at http://blog.cleveland.com/cribnotes/2009/07/keller_williams_realty_greater.html

 

I've split discussion of Crowe-Horwathe's move to another thread, which will be renamed appropriately soon.  Please continue that discussion there.

The 1717 E9th St. Building appears to now be empty.  The lobby remains open (with no more security guard) for access to the attached parking structure.

Keller Williams Realty will open a downtown Cleveland office next month By Michelle Jarboe, The Plain Dealer November 03, 2009, 3:45PM

 

Keller Williams Realty Greater Cleveland plans to open a downtown Cleveland office next month, staffed by at least 17 agents who want to market and sell property in the city.

Keller Williams agents Mark Lastition, Jake Lohser and Scott Phillips have signed a letter of intent to lease 2,100 square feet in the Cloak Factory building at 635 W. Lakeside Ave. in the Warehouse District.

 

"We see downtown Cleveland as one of the few areas in the entire region that is constantly growing," said Phillips, who joined Keller Williams in early 2009. "But there aren't a lot of real estate offices in the area. The pool is very small."

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2009/11/keller_williams_realty_will_op.html

"We see downtown Cleveland as one of the few areas in the entire region that is constantly growing,"

 

Thank you.

Thumbs up to Keller Williams.

I went to HS with Jacob Lohser and his (now) wife.  Good for him. 

In this weeks Crains they had an article about the Rosetta group possibly moving into the old National City building. 

It was reported upthread that they were moving into the PD building...?

 

Either way great news, but even better if the latest news is true!

 

It is in the "subscription area" so I dont have access to the whole article.

 

"IT outfit Rosetta zeroes in on old Nat City building

Rosetta, an information technology company in the midst of a much-watched search for a downtown Cleveland office to replace three suburban offices, is pursuing three floors of empty office space in the building housing the Holiday Inn Express."

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=TOC 

The article says that Rosetta hasn't settled on it, but has suspended other negotiations to focus on that building, and is looking for an incentive package from the city to locate in that space.  They're looking at 60,000 sf.

 

The article also contains the following quote:

 

“(Rosetta executives) love East Fourth and what MRN has done there,” one of the sources said, noting the old National City Bank building is “vanilla, and they really want to dress it up.”

 

They also have passed on leasing space at the PD building and the Ameritrust Tower.

 

One final wrinkle from the article is that the largest space that Rosetta currently occupies in Beachwood is under a long-term lease, which would have to be broken to move downtown.

Thanks Confiteordeo.  Interesting indeed.  60,000 sq ft is great and a huge win!

 

National City bank building vanilla :?  Maybe the newer part...  The old one has one of my favorite lobby's.   

^The ground floor of that building is beautiful.  Can't ask for a much better location either.  You're connected to a hotel, 4 parking garages directly outside of the building (Nat City, Key, 5/3, 515), very close to both arcades, E4th, lunch spots on E6th, Healthline, Library, etc...

 

What a great find for Rosetta. 

Is Rosetta hdqt'ed in the Cleveland area?  Also, are they the Rosetta Stone people?

^Pretty sure this Rosetta is this firm: http://www.rosetta.com/Pages/default.aspx  which is HQed in Princeton NJ.  Don't think it's related to the language training software people.

 

Great to see some more spin-off because of East 4th!!  Here's hoping more success will follow.

Uh oh.  I hope they get a good buyer.....

 

Former East Ohio Gas Building to go up for sale in online auction

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20100121/FREE/100129956

 

An online auction is in the works for the vacant, 21-story former East Ohio Gas Building in downtown Cleveland.

 

The empty office tower at 1717 East Ninth St. is being offered in a sealed-bid auction by the Chicago-based Jones Lank LaSalle brokerage and the REDC Commercial and Auction.com auction companies. Bids are due March 4.

Also posted in the Random Developments thread.

Yeah!!  Here's more on the Rosetta move.  Now 80,000 sq feet! :clap:

FYI-Rosetta is what became of Brulant when it was bought out in 2008.

 

Digital agency Rosetta plans to bring nearly 400 jobs to new downtown Cleveland offices      By Michelle Jarboe, The Plain Dealer January 25, 2010, 3:05PM

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- An interactive marketing agency plans to bring nearly 400 jobs to downtown Cleveland, into a largely empty office building just off Euclid Avenue near East Fourth Street.

 

Rosetta, the nation's largest independent digital agency, is signing a 10-year lease on 80,000 square feet in a former National City building at 629 Euclid Ave.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/01/digital_agency_rosetta_plans_t.html

Here's the link to the article:

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/01/digital_agency_rosetta_plans_t.html

Lamest Excuse ever (umm excuse me Mr. Alt dude, traffic at Chagrin and 271 is a bi-otch):

 

Carnegie Investment Counsel heading to suburbs from downtown Cleveland

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20100125/FREE/100129910

 

"Principal and chief investment officer Richard Alt said in a statement the decision was made because clients do not enjoy fighting downtown traffic and paying for parking."

 

 

That was a pretty weak argument.

 

As for more relevant employers like Rosetta, won't their 400 employees equal the number at Eaton who are leaving downtown? If so, that's awesome. I wish more PR was made of Rosetta coming downtown.

That was a pretty weak argument.

 

As for more relevant employers like Rosetta, won't their 400 employees equal the number at Eaton who are leaving downtown? If so, that's awesome. I wish more PR was made of Rosetta coming downtown.

I think Eaton has about 450, but yeah it's pretty close.

So refreshing to hear companies like Rosetta and the reasons they give for wanting to be located downtown and around E 4th. So different from old guard type companies like Eaton and Carnegie Investments.

Lamest Excuse ever (umm excuse me Mr. Alt dude, traffic at Chagrin and 271 is a bi-otch):

Carnegie Investment Counsel heading to suburbs from downtown Cleveland

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20100125/FREE/100129910

"Principal and chief investment officer Richard Alt said in a statement the decision was made because clients do not enjoy fighting downtown traffic and paying for parking."

 

I second, big time! What are these people thinking? ARE they at all?

Traffic... no.  But in a terrible economy, parking rates can be a barrier.  This comes into play for a lot of clients where I work.  Sometimes we offer to reimburse them, sometimes we send 327 to their house.  This shouldn't be a big deal for clients of any "Investment Counsel," but who am I to judge.  Given the wild abundance of surface parking downtown, and given that we're in heavy promotion/development mode... parking rates probably need to come down.

parking rates probably need to come down.

 

The building I work in downtown recently raised their parking rates.

You can park for $3.25 by my house, and that's a 2 block walk from where their office is.  That's not bad at all.

or you can park on huron or prospect and pay 25 cents for an hour.

You can park for $3.25 by my house, and that's a 2 block walk from where their office is. That's not bad at all.

 

TWO BLOCKS! OMG! I have to walk?? You mean there's no parking right by the front door? What is this some kind of socialistic commie European country? Every American has a God-given right to park by the front door, even if it means using the handicap placard you stole from the old lady last week!! Damn commies.....

 

:)

Lamest Excuse ever (umm excuse me Mr. Alt dude, traffic at Chagrin and 271 is a bi-otch):

 

Carnegie Investment Counsel heading to suburbs from downtown Cleveland

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20100125/FREE/100129910

 

"Principal and chief investment officer Richard Alt said in a statement the decision was made because clients do not enjoy fighting downtown traffic and paying for parking."

 

 

 

“Being in close proximity to (Interstate) 271 and Chagrin (Boulevard) should be a welcome change for most,” Mr. Alt said.

 

Umm except if you live on the westside...Brillant!

 

If you live in Cleveland Heights it's not a problem...

You can park for $3.25 by my house, and that's a 2 block walk from where their office is.  That's not bad at all.

 

TWO BLOCKS! OMG! I have to walk?? You mean there's no parking right by the front door? What is this some kind of socialistic commie European country? Every American has a God-given right to park by the front door, even if it means using the handicap placard you stole from the old lady last week!! Damn commies.....

 

:)

 

ESPECIALLY when I go to the gym once a week.  God forbid I have to walk 1/8 mile to the gym!  How would I ever make it though my spinning class? ;)

^ :roll:

 

Crain's reported this week that Downtown Cleveland's vacancy rate is now 15%.  Nice to see, considering that it was as high as 22% in 2005 (per page 1 of this thread) and we've slipped into a huge recession since then.

 

Article (subscription needed:)

 

 

http://crainscleveland.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100215/SUB1/302159974

^Is that 15% for ALL office buildings downtown, or just the Class A space?  If it is the Class A space that Crains is referring to, we're back to square one as far as office development is concerned.

 

15% regarding all Class A, B, and C space would be a GREAT number, though.  The more residential conversions, the better, as this would show.

For 4Q 2009, Grubb & Ellis reported that Downtown (CBD) had 11.3% vacancy for Class A, and 26.6% for all of Class B, with what looks like 21.1% for A, B, and C.

 

You can download their quarterly reports here: http://grubb-ellis.com/Research/Reports.aspx

keep in mind that it excludes all buildings that are not in use...if you include all the completely vacant office buildings downtown, that number increases significantly

^Certainly.  From the perspective of property managers, buildings that are mothballed are effectively considered "invisible" to the market.

All I know is what was quoted in the article:

 

"One plus for the building is that downtown Cleveland office vacancy is not faring that badly compared to other markets, said Warren Morris, CEO of the Colliers Ostendorf-Morris brokerage. For example, Colliers reports downtown Cleveland vacancy of 15% stacks up respectably against other cities, as Dallas has 22% vacancy, Phoenix 17%, and Los Angeles and Miami, both 16%."

Tangential fact: I recently received an "insider" report on the Seattle CBD.  20% commercial vacancy rate.  I think this is referring to Class A space. 

Tangential fact: I recently received an "insider" report on the Seattle CBD. 20% commercial vacancy rate. I think this is referring to Class A space.

 

Could 'commercial' refer to retail?

^That sounds about right, given the burst of office development over the last several years and the collapse of Washington Mutual.

 

Fact remains that since a few years after the construction of Society (now Key) Tower, the CBD market has remained fairly stable.  The move of Grubb & Ellis and Tucker Ellis to Flats East Bank will certainly hurt the Huntington Building, but if the owner has any sense, that building will move towards quickly toward residential mixed use, as so many Class B and C buildings inexorably have.  Taking this building off of the market will further "help" the office market; the concern will be whether adding more residential hurts places like the Avenue District.

 

To bring things back to topic, Cleveland CBD office space won't be growing anytime soon, but that's good from a vacancy perspective. And, given the last few years, lenders are valuing stability to a greater extent.  Yay us.

Ernst & Young, not Grubb & Ellis.

Tangential fact: I recently received an "insider" report on the Seattle CBD. 20% commercial vacancy rate. I think this is referring to Class A space.

 

Could 'commercial' refer to retail?

 

They meant office towers.  When Wa Mu collapsed, it emptied out a brand new 40 story office tower.  Chase only took a few floors.  The building I am in, Columbia tower, 76 floors is 20% empty.

More good news, the DCA business clips newsletter this month said Stifel Nicolaus  has relocated from Westlake to 200 Public Square and leased 15,000 square feet. Their website says they are a brokerage and investment banking firm. There can't be much vacant space left in the building now that this firm, Huntington Bank and Cliffs Natural Resources have moved/plan to move to 200 Public square.

I wonder if readers beyond the DCA will hear about the good news.......

I hope the voids at Huntington will be filled.

There are several possible plans for Huntington (perhaps we should start referring to it as the Union Trust Building, it's original name) being explored.  I wouldn't worry about it too much.