January 12, 201114 yr I do wish they would still consider Cleveland, which has a lower income tax than Brooklyn and I'm sure the city gov't is willing to make some decent deals with them. But alas, AG prefers a secluded suburban campus to an urban headquarters that integrates with the area around it and attracts younger, more creative employees. NOT TRUE. AG did want a location in Downtown and they're offered only horrible locations by the Dept of Economic Development, and no deals. For every decent location with open/buildable land that AG inquired about, they were told that the land MAY already be used for something else. As a result, Downtown lost 2,000 white collar, mostly well-paying, jobs, including 500 creative employees, from a company ready and willing to make the move. The city made NO EFFORT to have them.
January 12, 201114 yr I do wish they would still consider Cleveland, which has a lower income tax than Brooklyn and I'm sure the city gov't is willing to make some decent deals with them. But alas, AG prefers a secluded suburban campus to an urban headquarters that integrates with the area around it and attracts younger, more creative employees. NOT TRUE. AG did want a location in Downtown and they're offered only horrible locations by the Dept of Economic Development, and no deals. For every decent location with open/buildable land that AG inquired about, they were told that the land MAY already be used for something else. As a result, Downtown lost 2,000 white collar, mostly well-paying, jobs, including 500 creative employees, from a company ready and willing to make the move. The city made NO EFFORT to have them. I'd like to know more about this. If true, it's disturbing but not at all surprising.
January 13, 201114 yr Its what I was told by someone knowledgeable within AG. Needless to say, i was outraged.
January 13, 201114 yr Yea I also have some knowledge of the situation, not from anyone inside AG, but from a commercial real estate broker (one of many probably) working on the deal. Cleveland did offer sites and deals, AG didnt want them
January 13, 201114 yr Well, damn. Now I'm intrigued. I'm more inclined to believe that AG just didn't want to have their headquarters downtown, but I'd love to know more information about this.
January 13, 201114 yr All of this is subjective, so both sources could be correct. It's possible that sites and deals were offered and AG didn't like them, even thought they amounted to "no deal" being offered. It's also possible that AG made counterproposals (or at least inquiries) and the city - or the property owners in question - didn't like them. Then again, it's also possible that AG proposed something too suburban campus-y for the sites they wanted and the city balked. That one's a little harder to believe. Giving credit where credit is due, it does seem like this administration is intent on bringing in employers at any cost.
January 13, 201114 yr ^ And that is why I'm much more inclined to believe that AG didn't have any interest in moving to Cleveland.
January 13, 201114 yr I don't recall the exact number, but the net buildable acres AG wants is huge. The applicable sites in Cleveland had 'poor highway access' according AG.
January 18, 201114 yr I don't recall the exact number, but the net buildable acres AG wants is huge. The applicable sites in Cleveland had 'poor highway access' according AG. Wonder if they even looked at the former NS intermodal yard?!?!? It's a huge parcel and it's at the confluence of I-71, I-90 and I-77. But sometimes I suspect these old white men running companies like AG or Eaton may think of any site in the big bad city as having too many of "those scary people" and those extra pennies in taxes just too burdensome. What I really think they want is a clean, green site in a white-bread suburb.... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
February 11, 201114 yr Any word on the status of AG's decision? Aren't we supposed to find out by the end of this month?
March 7, 201114 yr News conference at 11:00 am today. No clue about the results, but kasich will be there, which makes me think Ohio will remain HQ state.
March 7, 201114 yr this whole "search committee" is an utter farce. they will end up in beachwood because it is in the backyards of the executives, and they will use illinois to make the county and state bend over backwards to give it to them as cheaply as possible. end of story. they don't WANT to be in downtown or midtown. they took the "look around" in the city to say they did it. Like i said, often times these things are a joke. I will be shocked if it ends up anywhere other than next to eaton.
March 7, 201114 yr The News Conference is taking place in their current location. Is there any chance that they will end up staying there?
March 7, 201114 yr The News Conference is taking place in their current location. Is there any chance that they will end up staying there? That would be awesome if they were!
March 7, 201114 yr well that was underwhelming... BROOKLYN, Ohio -- American Greetings Corp. plans to stay in Ohio, now that the state has assembled a gift bag of tax credits and $18.5 million in grants and loans for the publicly traded company. But the company, based in Brooklyn, is still being coy about whether it will renovate its longtime headquarters or build new offices in another Cleveland suburb. http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/03/american_greetings_to_stay_in.html
March 7, 201114 yr ^ Very underwhelming, but I did learn this from the article... 'The potential site in Westlake is an undeveloped piece of Crocker Park, an investment where the Weiss family, which runs American Greetings, holds a minority stake.' Can I change my vote from Independence to Westlake? lol
March 7, 201114 yr Yeah Weiss is good buddy's with Stark, which is why they should have been a shoe-in for the Warehouse district. Damnit its not too late.... Everybody should be scrambling to resurrect this, since apparently ntohing is in stone yet (City, Bob, Everyone... Hello!)
March 7, 201114 yr I am still with McCleveland that they will end up in Beachwood (or some part of Chagrin Highlands) for the reasons stated. Can't see where the undeveloped portion of Crocker Park would be large enough for AG headquarters, especially given all the parking they will need.
March 7, 201114 yr As said above, the Weiss family all lives in UH. Their Chief Counsel (who's husband is an Eaton exec, just by the by) just bought a house in Hunting Valley. My money is on Beachwood as well.
March 14, 201114 yr Well, Fitzgerald obviously gets what the cities in the county are doing to each other.... American Greetings won't get county money for new headquarters, Ed FitzGerald says Published: Friday, March 11, 2011, 9:00 PM Updated: Monday, March 14, 2011, 10:03 AM By Janet Cho, The Plain Dealer View full sizePlain Dealer fileAmerican Greetings headquarters in Brooklyn, Ohio. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland-area suburbs are likely to dangle a variety of financing packages to attract American Greetings' headquarters. But one thing the card maker won't see is money from Cuyahoga County. American Greetings should keep its headquarters in Brooklyn, County Executive Ed FitzGerald said this week. The county will help American Greetings Corp. find a site but will not offer financial aid, he said. "I don't want to give them any incentive to move from one city in Cuyahoga County to another," Fitzgerald said, especially if it means leaving aworking class, blue-collar suburb like Brooklyn for a wealthier suburb that can afford more grants and tax incentives.... Read more at: http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/03/american_greetings_wont_get_co.html
March 14, 201114 yr My money's on Beachwood too, which will only make 480 East that much worse in the mornings.
March 14, 201114 yr gotta give Fitz applause here - this guy may actually be a real leader, one of the first in the city in a while, say since White or Voinivich
March 14, 201114 yr The comments crack me up discoman March 11, 2011 at 9:09PM move it to columbus, this part of ohio is dead ur3cool March 11, 2011 at 9:27PM Like disco?
March 14, 201114 yr The comments crack me up discoman March 11, 2011 at 9:09PM move it to columbus, this part of ohio is dead ur3cool March 11, 2011 at 9:27PM Like disco? Well, this part of Ohio is only dead because there's no place to park.
March 14, 201114 yr My favorite quote on that article is in response to discoman's "move it to columbus": That would be fantastic. They could find a creative hotbed in one of the many strip malls or chain stores. They could even model the cards after each suburb: beige for Hilliard, beige for Dublin, beige for Grove City, beige for Westerville, and ooh: lots of beige to represent the larger houses in New Albany. Then they could give the cards some rib-like texture to represent the vinyl siding.
March 14, 201114 yr My favorite quote on that article is in response to discoman's "move it to columbus": That would be fantastic. They could find a creative hotbed in one of the many strip malls or chain stores. They could even model the cards after each suburb: beige for Hilliard, beige for Dublin, beige for Grove City, beige for Westerville, and ooh: lots of beige to represent the larger houses in New Albany. Then they could give the cards some rib-like texture to represent the vinyl siding. OMG, thats great...
May 17, 201114 yr American Greetings' new headquarters to cost tens of millions of dollars Published: Monday, May 16, 2011, 7:12 PM Janet Cho, The Plain Dealer The nation's second-largest greeting card maker still hasn't decided where to build its new world headquarters, but said it expects to spend tens of millions on the project. I wish I could believe that secretly behind the scenes Frank Jackson and the city of Cleveland are quietly working behind the scenes to make AG an offer that they can't refuse. But I thînk we all know that probably is not the case. This Mayor just does not have that type of personality. I know AG has stated they have ruled out Cleveland but that should not reduce us to a sideline observer. http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/05/american_greetings_new_headquarters_to_cost_tens_of_millions_of_dollars.html
May 20, 201114 yr Wasn't there talk that Brooklyn would have a hard time surviving without AG? Could this lead to it getting annexed by Cleveland? Or consolidating more services?
May 20, 201114 yr So in Crocker Park or on that empty lot across the street? (It's empty on Google Maps anyway)
May 20, 201114 yr American Greetings to move headquarters to Crocker Park in Westlake in 2014 Michelle Jarboe, The Plain Dealer By Michelle Jarboe, The Plain Dealer crocker2.jpgView full sizeBialosky + Partners, Stark Enterprises, American GreetingsAmerican Greetings Corp. plans to move its headquarters to Westlake in 2014. The company envisions a 700,000 square foot project on 13 acres at the south end of Crocker Park. BROOKLYN, Ohio -- American Greetings Corp. has chosen a 13-acre site in Westlake for its new headquarters -- a decision that deals a blow to the city of Brooklyn but promises new prospects for retail and hotel projects at the mixed-use Crocker Park development. The publicly traded company announced the decision this morning during a meeting with employees at its longtime headquarters in Brooklyn. Construction on a 700,000 square foot corporate headquarters project off Main Street at Crocker Park could start in 2012, and the company plans to move in 2014. http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/05/american_greetings_moving_its_world_headquarters.html
May 20, 201114 yr I hate to say this, but I'm now going to apply for jobs there. I've seen some openings I'd be qualified for, but was waiting because if they were moving way east, no way.
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