Ohio tax credit authority approves three NE Ohio deals that would create a combined 455 jobs

Comments Email Print

March 27, 2017 UPDATED 7 HOURS AGO

By SCOTT SUTTELL 

 

The Ohio Tax Credit Authority on Monday, March 27, approved tax credit deals for three Northeast Ohio projects that could create more than $15 million in annual payroll and 455 jobs for the region.

 

....The final Northeast Ohio project approved on Monday was a six-year, 1.588% tax credit to Dwellworks LLC for the creation of $1.64 million in new annual payroll as a result of an expansion project in the city of Cleveland. As part of the tax credit agreement, the authority would require Dwellworks to maintain operations at the project location for at least nine years. The tax credit is worth an estimated $150,000.

 

Dwellworks is a business-to-business provider of services to the global corporate mobility/relocation industry.

 

Ohio is competing with Michigan for this one. Michigan's advantages "include an existing significant presence in the state, lower cost workforce and excess capacity," the tax credit authority said. "State support will help to ensure that the project moves forward in Ohio."

 

The proposed project in Cleveland involves expanding operations and staff at the company's headquarters location.

 

Dwellworks expects to create 41 full-time equivalent employees and to retain $7.6 million in existing payroll.

 

MORE:

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20170327/NEWS/170329808/ohio-tax-credit-authority-approves-three-ne-ohio-deals-that-would

Paid puff piece from the DCA....

 

Downtown Cleveland’s access to talent attracts growing companies

Apr 1, 2017

Sponsor content by Downtown Cleveland Alliance

 

Downtown Cleveland’s biggest advantage over other locations is its ability to help employers recruit and retain top talent. With a rapidly growing residential population, easy access to colleges and universities and competitive cost of living, downtown Cleveland is increasingly being selected as an office location because it’s where talented employees want to work and live.

 

BrightEdge, a Silicon Valley-based content marketing software company, who celebrated its grand opening in Cleveland’s iconic Terminal Tower at the beginning of the year, chose downtown Cleveland because the location provides access to the talent it is looking to hire.

 

“We hire a lot of college graduates and the number of colleges within a three-hour drive of Cleveland provides unparalleled access to talent,” says Kevin Bobowski, SVP of marketing at BrightEdge. Downtown employers can draw from Northeast Ohio colleges and universities with over 225,000 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs. The Cleveland office is currently home to 21 employees but is planning to grow to include an additional 45 employees. Additional BrightEdge office locations include London, New York, Seattle, Chicago, Tokyo and Sydney.

 

MORE

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2017/04/01/downtown-cleveland-s-access-to-talent-attracts.html

Sale of a Valspar Corp. unit is expected to clear the way for deal with Sherwin-Williams Co.

 

The Sherwin-Williams Co. (NYSE: SHW) of Cleveland and Minneapolis-based Valspar Corp. (NYSE: VAL) have made a move to appease federal regulators and clear the way for approval of their pending $11.3 billion combination.

 

The companies on Wednesday morning, April 12, announced in a news release they have agreed to sell assets of Valspar's North American Industrial Wood Coatings business to Philadelphia-based Axalta Coating Systems for $420 million in cash.

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20170412/NEWS/170419937/sale-of-a-valspar-corp-unit-is-expected-to-clear-the-way-for-deal

 

 

While I feel for the folks in Minneapolis, it is nice to be on this side of a corporate merger. According to the Star Tribune, Valspar's headquarters is expected to move to Cleveland. Valspar has 600 employees in Minneapolis:

http://www.startribune.com/valspar-to-sell-wood-coatings-line-for-420-million/419267414/

 

 

When this gets the green light from regulators, I wouldn't be surprised to hear news of a new HQ building soon thereafter. Things were moving pretty fast in that direction before the Valspar deal was announced 13 months ago. Now Sherwin-Williams is a much larger company with up to 600 more HQ/research workers. That would be added to 2,800 employees from the Landmark and Skylight office buildings, and possibly 320 from its technology center located on Canal Road. There were rumors everyone could move into a single structure, or 3,700 total employees.

 

Modern open-floor offices have 100 to 150 square feet per employee (more in research facilities) with 20 percent added for common areas, and more for ground floor lobbies and executive areas. So let's go with 200 sf x 3700 for S-W. We're looking at possibly 740,000 square feet for S-W. If S-W wants the 45,000 sf Jacobs lot and they built a tower on it with no setbacks, that's only a 16- to 17-story tower (of course setbacks, parking/delivery docks contained within the structure, and some additional reserve space for future growth could significantly add to that). The parking alone could add 10 levels to the tower. So it's not unreasonable to expect a 30+ story tower -- if the Jacobs lot is where they want to go. And since S-W may soon have $420 million in cash from the sale of the wood coatings division to Axalta, why not dream big?

I don't think we will see an increase of 600 in Cleveland.  There may be some redundancy.  Maybe 400 new jobs in Cleveland.  Othereise, I agree they'll need some new space.  I am hoping they intend to stay downtown.

I don't think we will see an increase of 600 in Cleveland.  There may be some redundancy.  Maybe 400 new jobs in Cleveland.  Othereise, I agree they'll need some new space.  I am hoping they intend to stay downtown.

 

I'm sure there will be some redundancies in office and research staffs, but the point of this merger is to position the combined company for further growth. So any reductions in combined staffing may be short-lived.

I don't think we will see an increase of 600 in Cleveland.  There may be some redundancy.  Maybe 400 new jobs in Cleveland.  Othereise, I agree they'll need some new space.  I am hoping they intend to stay downtown.

 

I'm sure there will be some redundancies in office and research staffs, but the point of this merger is to position the combined company for further growth. So any reductions in combined staffing may be short-lived.

 

The Sherwin Williams charter requires that they keep the HQ within one mile of where the company was founded on the river. That is a little known tid-bit that I wish was more publicized, as it is a major indication of their commitment to our community.

The Sherwin Williams charter requires that they keep the HQ within one mile of where the company was founded on the river. That is a little known tid-bit that I wish was more publicized, as it is a major indication of their commitment to our community.

 

I'd heard they wanted the HQ to be close to the site of the company's founding -- but I didn't realize it was a formalized policy!

Well,  you learn something new everyday.

Good news

I don't think we will see an increase of 600 in Cleveland.  There may be some redundancy.  Maybe 400 new jobs in Cleveland.  Othereise, I agree they'll need some new space.  I am hoping they intend to stay downtown.

 

I'm sure there will be some redundancies in office and research staffs, but the point of this merger is to position the combined company for further growth. So any reductions in combined staffing may be short-lived.

 

The Sherwin Williams charter requires that they keep the HQ within one mile of where the company was founded on the river. That is a little known tid-bit that I wish was more publicized, as it is a major indication of their commitment to our community.

 

Interesting! I hope they can leave or at least open up their fenced-off riverside stronghold. That would also show a nice commitment to the community.

For those interested in drawing a 1-mile concentric circle around their founding location, their first paint factory was opened in 1873 as the Sherwin-Williams Paint and Color Works at 601 Canal Street. It's the site of their present-day Breen Technology Center on Canal Road.

 

EDIT: 1 mile north is the USS Cod, 1 mile east is the Wolstein Center, 1 mile west is the Mariners Watch Apartments on Detroit Ave, and 1 mile south is Voss Industries on W. 25th.

Here ya go:

Here ya go:

 

Awesome. Great visual. The good news is that virtually all of downtown is available

Are they going to want to combine their research and corporate offices to one location?  If so, i think a site around E. 17/18 and St Clair could suit them well.  This would open up their river front site for development and the landmark for residential conversion.

Are they going to want to combine their research and corporate offices to one location?  If so, i think a site around E. 17/18 and St Clair could suit them well.  This would open up their river front site for development and the landmark for residential conversion.

 

In the winter of 2015-16, I was hearing they were interested in combining them. Valspar had their HQ/research center in the same building in Minneapolis.

Are they going to want to combine their research and corporate offices to one location?  If so' date=' i think a site around E. 17/18 and St Clair could suit them well.  This would open up their river front site for development and the landmark for residential conversion.[/quote']

 

I dunno---that might put them a few feet over the 1-mile rule!....I'd love to see a new tower on public square---20-30 floors for SW and they can rent out the other 70-80 stories.  A 90-110 story building would certainly make a statement to the world that the city is back! 

 

If, however, they wanted to include R&D with the office, I'd love to see them around 14th and Prospect----would add to the vibe at Playhouse square---and eliminate the unsightly surface lots there....though I'd rather the Downtown 'core' remain offices/hotels/retail/residential---with R&D facilities outside it unless they can be made to look like the other uses----without big, windowless walls on low-storied buildings....

^^^ 14th and Prospect came to my mind too as a decent location. A pro for those who drive to work at SW, more of a con for those who take the Rapid.

^^^ 14th and Prospect came to my mind too as a decent location. A pro for those who drive to work at SW, more of a con for those who take the Rapid.

 

For this reason I'm sure they would like to stay in the same general vicinity that they've been for all these years.  Those W6th/Superior surface lots would do the trick if they weren't willing to pony up for Public Square frontage.

Are they going to want to combine their research and corporate offices to one location?  If so' date=' i think a site around E. 17/18 and St Clair could suit them well.  This would open up their river front site for development and the landmark for residential conversion.[/quote']

 

I dunno---that might put them a few feet over the 1-mile rule!....I'd love to see a new tower on public square---20-30 floors for SW and they can rent out the other 70-80 stories.  A 90-110 story building would certainly make a statement to the world that the city is back! 

 

If, however, they wanted to include R&D with the office, I'd love to see them around 14th and Prospect----would add to the vibe at Playhouse square---and eliminate the unsightly surface lots there....though I'd rather the Downtown 'core' remain offices/hotels/retail/residential---with R&D facilities outside it unless they can be made to look like the other uses----without big, windowless walls on low-storied buildings....

 

I would much prefer a location at/near Public Square for the reason of rapid transit convenience; I'd rather not build a significant office structure away from Public Square.  14th and Prospect has a lot of ugly surface lots, but it's too far away from the core for a significant office building, even though I love PHS for what it is: one of the nation's leading theater districts surrounded by a growing residential component -- and a significant grocery store a few blocks away...  Did S&W say they wanted their R&D at the same site? 

 

 

For this reason I'm sure they would like to stay in the same general vicinity that they've been for all these years.  Those W6th/Superior surface lots would do the trick if they weren't willing to pony up for Public Square frontage.

 

They may not have to buy property or even build an office tower. Many companies these days don't own their headquarters building, even if they were built specifically for them. They lease them from a developer, such as the Jacobs Group. It reduces their debt.

 

Did S&W say they wanted their R&D at the same site? 

 

 

S-W hasn't even publicly acknowledged they need a new HQ. And I doubt they will until the have their site and conceptual design chosen.

If KJP's napkin calculations are right, I would think a multitenant building with S-W as the anchor could have 1-1.25 million sq ft of leasable space.

I have a low-level source at S-W who said they are building the new headquarters at the corner of Huron and Prospect over the transit tracks. Because of the nature of his job, he happened to see the renderings. His only comment was that the building was “huge” and that they were planning to start the building in 2018. This may be only a proposal in IMO, but he seemed surprised this wasn't common knowledge.

Well that's some scoop. Interesting, If that goes down that's a surprise to me

^^ Are you referring to W Prospect and W West Huron adjacent to the Landmark Building?

Welcome fuzzy. But Huron and Prospect don't intersect until East 9th. Unless you're referring to this 27-year-old rendering of Gateway At Landmark?" It's the last time S-W considered building a new HQ.

 

Welcome fuzzy. But Huron and Prospect don't intersect until East 9th. Unless you're referring to this 27-year-old rendering of Gateway At Landmark?" It's the last time S-W considered building a new HQ.

 

 

I feel like this is likely what Fuzzy is referring to. Unfortunately, even a corporation with the pull of SW will have to go through all of the channels to build such a large HQ. Additionally, we likely would have seen rezoning, title transfers, and the like that would have tipped us that the wheels may be in motion.

 

I do believe SW is capable of financing this quickly and starting construction as soon as possible, but a 2018 start seems unfathomable to me.

^That location would make sense for them. A large part of moving HQ locations is retaining current employees and drastic changes always seem to upset a portion of employees. This move would change very little to employee's present routine.

 

Just a random thought but if SW was to use this location as a new HQ I could see the feasibility of them keeping Breen tech center more of a possibility then if they were to move further away, even to Public Square lot. Test samples and other documents are run up to Skylight daily (at least they were, maybe that has become digitized). In addition people will come down from corporate and use the outdoor facilities at Breen, as well as a company-wide annual summer fair held at Breen every summer. Skylight, as is this possible new HQ location is just close enough to make this trek possible. Any further and I could see consolidation more of an issue.

 

Note this is total speculation. I would love to see the Breen site open up for other uses but I could see the company wanting to hold on to its Breen asset.

^That location would make sense for them. A large part of moving HQ locations is retaining current employees and drastic changes always seem to upset a portion of employees. This move would change very little to employee's present routine.

 

Just a random thought but if SW was to use this location as a new HQ I could see the feasibility of them keeping Breen tech center more of a possibility then if they were to move further away, even to Public Square lot. Test samples and other documents are run up to Skylight daily (at least they were, maybe that has become digitized). In addition people will come down from corporate and use the outdoor facilities at Breen, as well as a company-wide annual summer fair held at Breen every summer. Skylight, as is this possible new HQ location is just close enough to make this trek possible. Any further and I could see consolidation more of an issue.

 

Note this is total speculation. I would love to see the Breen site open up for other uses but I could see the company wanting to hold on to its Breen asset.

 

Also noteworthy, I believe choosing this location would likely reduce the size of the new HQ, as they would not necessarily have to move all of their employees from Landmark, given the proximity.

I feel like this is likely what Fuzzy is referring to. Unfortunately, even a corporation with the pull of SW will have to go through all of the channels to build such a large HQ. Additionally, we likely would have seen rezoning, title transfers, and the like that would have tipped us that the wheels may be in motion.

 

I do believe SW is capable of financing this quickly and starting construction as soon as possible, but a 2018 start seems unfathomable to me.

 

No title has to transfer. This property is already owned by the Sherwin-Williams Development Corp., as it has been since 1985.

 

This air-rights parcel (there are actually two parcels below -- one belonging to GCRTA and the other to Fundamental Parking LLC) is zoned Semi-Industrial E5. Under this zoning:

 

§ 345.03  Semi-Industry Districts

  (a)  Definition. As used in this Zoning Code, “Semi-Industry District” means an area usually adjacent to a Retail Business District or more restricted use district, in which storage, wholesaling, passenger or motor-freight transportation terminals, light manufacturing and other semi-industrial operations of such nature as not to be detrimental to an adjacent Retail Business District or more restricted use district, are permitted.

 

“E” Area District refers to residential uses, and therefore does not apply here.

 

Section 353.01 states that in a “5” Height District, maximum height of the building cannot exceed 250 feet.

 

So if Sherwin-Williams wants to construct a building that will be less than 250 feet tall (in practice, this is roughly a 25-story building), they probably do not need any zoning variances.

I feel like this is likely what Fuzzy is referring to. Unfortunately, even a corporation with the pull of SW will have to go through all of the channels to build such a large HQ. Additionally, we likely would have seen rezoning, title transfers, and the like that would have tipped us that the wheels may be in motion.

 

I do believe SW is capable of financing this quickly and starting construction as soon as possible, but a 2018 start seems unfathomable to me.

 

No title has to transfer. This property is already owned by the Sherwin-Williams Development Corp., as it has been since 1985.

 

This air-rights parcel (there are actually two parcels below -- one belonging to GCRTA and the other to Fundamental Parking LLC) is zoned Semi-Industrial E5. Under this zoning:

 

§ 345.03  Semi-Industry Districts

  (a)  Definition. As used in this Zoning Code, “Semi-Industry District” means an area usually adjacent to a Retail Business District or more restricted use district, in which storage, wholesaling, passenger or motor-freight transportation terminals, light manufacturing and other semi-industrial operations of such nature as not to be detrimental to an adjacent Retail Business District or more restricted use district, are permitted.

 

“E” Area District refers to residential uses, and therefore does not apply here.

 

Section 353.01 states that in a “5” Height District, maximum height of the building cannot exceed 250 feet.

 

So if Sherwin-Williams wants to construct a building that will be less than 250 feet tall (in practice, this is roughly a 25-story building), they probably do not need any zoning variances.

 

Good research, I appreciate the help!

 

I would presume SW wants to build over 250 feet, especially in that specific sliver, since width is clearly a restriction.

I noticed something interesting while clicking on the parcel map. Tower City is a mismash of layers, from track level, through the retail levels, up to street level, and then to the above-street levels. Each one is seemingly has different owners.

 

The interesting part is that along and below Huron, a company called KD TOWER CITY LLC acquired one of those layers from Raisin Industries (Dan Gilbert) in September 2016. Raisin bought Tower City-The Avenue in March 2016. KD Tower City LLC is a company created by Doug Price and Karen Paganini (who also co-own K&D Group) to acquire and hold their Tower City-area properties. I thought this was limited to Terminal Tower. I am surprised to see they own something along and below Huron Road. My first thought was they wanted to secure an accessway into Tower City Center before they acquire the Landmark Office Tower from Sherwin Williams!!

^What's the total square footage of the Landmark Office Tower?  If converted to residential, that would be a nice big chunk off the downtown office market books as well once they move into their new digs.

^What's the total square footage of the Landmark Office Tower?  If converted to residential, that would be a nice big chunk off the downtown office market books as well once they move into their new digs.

 

900,000 sf

I noticed something interesting while clicking on the parcel map. Tower City is a mismash of layers, from track level, through the retail levels, up to street level, and then to the above-street levels. Each one is seemingly has different owners.

 

The interesting part is that along and below Huron, a company called KD TOWER CITY LLC acquired one of those layers from Raisin Industries (Dan Gilbert) in September 2016. Raisin bought Tower City-The Avenue in March 2016. KD Tower City LLC is a company created by Doug Price and Karen Paganini (who also co-own K&D Group) to acquire and hold their Tower City-area properties. I thought this was limited to Terminal Tower. I am surprised to see they own something along and below Huron Road. My first thought was they wanted to secure an accessway into Tower City Center before they acquire the Landmark Office Tower from Sherwin Williams!!

 

This is in tradition of the Van Sweringens who had a zillion holding companies for their construction and RR operations.

I haven't heard any recent proposals for office building -- or any building -- at the site of the old Hippodrome movie theater on Euclid at E. 8th Street, which is currently an ugly surface lot now used by Heinen's shoppers among others.  This space is of substantial size for a building and, like 515 across (and down) the street, a parking garage could form the base along with street-level retail which would fill in the missing gap between Public Square and E. 9th.  Is there any potential here?  It's a great location on a number of levels including proximity to quality mass transit.

^ I was thinking it would be perfect for Medical Mutual's new consolidated Cleveland office, since it's already so close to their existing HQ and it's in such a prime location.

I haven't heard any recent proposals for office building -- or any building -- at the site of the old Hippodrome movie theater on Euclid at E. 8th Street, which is currently an ugly surface lot now used by Heinen's shoppers among others.  This space is of substantial size for a building and, like 515 across (and down) the street, a parking garage could form the base along with street-level retail which would fill in the missing gap between Public Square and E. 9th.  Is there any potential here?  It's a great location on a number of levels including proximity to quality mass transit.

^ I was thinking it would be perfect for Medical Mutual's new consolidated Cleveland office, since it's already so close to their existing HQ and it's in such a prime location.

 

Its been discussed up thread before of the possibility of MMO occupying an office building on either the Euclid Ave. or Prospect Ave. surface lots that were the site of the former Hippodrome Theater.

 

If MMO were to consolidate all of their employees in a new office building, including moving approximately 450 - 500 employees now based in Toledo to Cleveland, MMO's space needs would be anywhere from 500,00 - 550,000 sq ft. That's assuming their need is for approximately 2500 employees.

 

MMO would occupy 20 - 25 floors of floors that are 20 - 25,000 sq ft each.

 

I can envision a tower of 40 stories at either of the two sites for MMO, with space for other tenants too.

^I'd like to see an 80-story bldg---anchored on the lower part by 25 stories of Med Mutual, 25 by S-W, and the top 30 floors as CONDOS (not rentals), with a nice restaurant/bar on the top floor.  If no condos, then 30 floors of offices....

^ To be honest, I'd much rather see 2 new 40-story towers in downtown Cleveland rather than 1 80-story tower. We have a lot of empty space to fill up.

I agree we have lots of horizontal space. But its a lot harder to get one 80-story bldg than two 40-story bldgs--and an 80 story bldg makes a bigger marketing impact for the city. Plus, the timing may such that we could get an 80-story bldg now, but not later:  we have two major CLE firms with HQ space needs looking for space at the same time. So i'd rather we maximize the current opportunity and push for a new bldg for our skyline (which looks funny sometimes from some angles, as it looks like we have only three bldgs)...

And large swaths of parking craters are a selling point? An 80-story building is an urban cod piece for the insecure. When large sections of your downtown are windswept wastelands, what economic sense does it make to overbuild a skyscraper?? Cities like New York, Chicago, Toronto, and Philadelphia are building super-talls because their downtowns are built-out. In the absence of these market conditions, a super-tall takes away from your downtown sidewalk activity and thus, downtown retail/restaurant business activity.

 

Give me Portland, Oregon's lack of super-tall skyscrapers and urban vibrancy any day of the week.

Spreading office space across multiple buildings not only would fill in parking craters, but also allow more frontage for street-level retail and restaurant uses. This would make for a livelier city than concentrating development in one building.

And large swaths of parking craters are a selling point? An 80-story building is an urban cod piece for the insecure. When large sections of your downtown are windswept wastelands' date=' what economic sense does it make to overbuild a skyscraper?? Cities like New York, Chicago, Toronto, and Philadelphia are building super-talls because their downtowns are built-out. In the absence of these market conditions, a super-tall takes away from your downtown sidewalk activity and thus, downtown retail/restaurant business activity.[/quote']

 

OK. I'll agree with this. But the 'sidewalk activity" is only real if there is street facing retail. Post 1960-Cleveland has failed miserably at this---with either setbacks (Erieview Plaza) or No retail.    Key tower--none. BP Bldg? Maybe just one or two stores---even US Bank locks their door to Euclid Ave forcing customers to enter from the atrium. Erieview plaza? none.  If the zoning code does not force ground floor retail facing the street (which it doesn't) then good design principles must be adopted by the owner....(after encouragement from somewhere)....

I haven't heard any recent proposals for office building -- or any building -- at the site of the old Hippodrome movie theater on Euclid at E. 8th Street, which is currently an ugly surface lot now used by Heinen's shoppers among others.  This space is of substantial size for a building and, like 515 across (and down) the street, a parking garage could form the base along with street-level retail which would fill in the missing gap between Public Square and E. 9th.  Is there any potential here?  It's a great location on a number of levels including proximity to quality mass transit.

 

Whatever happens with Medical Mutual's HQ has to be set in motion soon. Their lease at the Rose Building expires in late-2020, BUT their lease at the Strongsville office is due to expire in early-2020. I'm not aware of the lease situation at their Beachwood, Copley and Toledo offices, which also are rumored to be up for consolidation. That's more than 2,500 employees, including from their HealthSpan acquisition. By comparison, Sherwin-Williams (pre-Valspar) has about 3,000 employees total in its headquarters and in its research center.

 

Even if Medical Mutual combines all of its Northern Ohio offices into a single building downtown, that's about 500,000 square feet. With average floor plates of 25,000 square feet, that's only 20 stories (not including structured parking or general office space made available for lease). BTW, Medical Mutual has said they probably would not own their building, so we may not see a property transfer occur before news of a new building becomes public.

And large swaths of parking craters are a selling point? An 80-story building is an urban cod piece for the insecure. When large sections of your downtown are windswept wastelands' date=' what economic sense does it make to overbuild a skyscraper?? Cities like New York, Chicago, Toronto, and Philadelphia are building super-talls because their downtowns are built-out. In the absence of these market conditions, a super-tall takes away from your downtown sidewalk activity and thus, downtown retail/restaurant business activity.[/quote']

 

OK. I'll agree with this. But the 'sidewalk activity" is only real if there is street facing retail. Post 1960-Cleveland has failed miserably at this---with either setbacks (Erieview Plaza) or No retail.    Key tower--none. BP Bldg? Maybe just one or two stores---even US Bank locks their door to Euclid Ave forcing customers to enter from the atrium. Erieview plaza? none.  If the zoning code does not force ground floor retail facing the street (which it doesn't) then good design principles must be adopted by the owner....(after encouragement from somewhere)....

 

 

well, the zoning issues are one thing, but its not always bad to not have much else going on in office buldings. its gets the employees out on the streets and in the shops. even in nyc, in my neighborhood for example, we had google move into the massive port authority building some years back now. they rather famously built ultra nice in-house food service for employees as a perk (and it is great, let me tell ya, i used to go load up when my spouse and friends worked for them for a few years, ha!). but the negative result of that is that many of the small mom and pop shops outside that traditionally catered to port authority bldg workers went out of business. the strip is slowly coming back, but changed and is still struggling somewhat. so i'm all for getting employees out of the office buildings and into the streets where possible.

^that's precisely what I'm saying---we need street-facing retail (shops/restaurants)---not shops within buildings--and almost all the post-1960 bldgs--from Key to BP to Erieview--to anything at the Clinic--creates just a wall of brick to people on the sidewalk. We need to change that. I was responding to KJP who was suggesting that just by having 2 25-story bldgs instead of one 50-story bldg, that there would be street life. There won't be unless retail is built on the outside of the building facing the sidewalks.

 

^that's precisely what I'm saying---we need street-facing retail (shops/restaurants)---not shops within buildings--and almost all the post-1960 bldgs--from Key to BP to Erieview--to anything at the Clinic--creates just a wall of brick to people on the sidewalk. We need to change that. I was responding to KJP who was suggesting that just by having 2 25-story bldgs instead of one 50-story bldg, that there would be street life. There won't be unless retail is built on the outside of the building facing the sidewalks.

 

 

I'll add one more caveat: it needs to be open to the public.  Seems like a given, but IIRC that new CSU housing building on the former JCC site has ground floor retail that is forbidden to all but residents.

^How stupid. And bad for the retailer as it limits the profit potential by minimizing the number of customers. I hope common sense will prevail here....

I agree with most of you guys. I think MedMu would benefit most from a Weston-esque proposal. Perhaps a 30 and 20 story building with a courtyard in the middle and a skybridge connecting them. I also agree that the retail needs to be A) Noticeable from the street, and B) open to the public.

NRP Group planning on a move to Halle Building by end of year

 

NRP Group, a powerhouse national developer of apartment complexes and other multifamily properties, is set to make some real estate noise on its own account.

 

The company, founded in 1995 and based in Garfield Heights, plans to move by the end of the year to the Halle Building in downtown Cleveland, contingent on the approval of state and local incentives. NRP Group said late Friday, April 28, that it's working with JobsOhio and the city of Cleveland on incentives to complete the relocation plan.

 

If all goes as planned, NRP Group will take about 43,000 square feet and will occupy the entire fourth floor of the Halle Building, 1228 Euclid Ave. The company declined to disclose how much space it has in its existing building in Garfield Heights, at 5309 Transportation Blvd.

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20170430/NEWS/170439990/nrp-group-planning-on-a-move-to-halle-building-by-end-of-year?X-IgnoreUserAgent=1

 

NRP Group has some amazing, mixed-use and high-rise developments around the country. Until the Edison and A Place For Us, they've been very quiet in Cleveland. Hopefully this move represents a change for them. I wonder if they're the national developer that wants to build the 30-story residential high-rise in Playhouse Square? They also have an aggressive masterplan for the development of the area around the West 117th Red Line station.