View of Progressive Insurance’s Alpha Drive complex in October 2022 as seen from Interstate 271. The complex is the subject of a purchase agreement with Park Place Technologies which needed larger offices, a warehouse and data center for its growing business (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Cleveland, other cities wooed Mayfield Hts. firm
Fast-growing Park Place Technologies, with nearly 500 employees in Greater Cleveland, has found a new, larger home after an extensive search that included expanding into a neighboring building or moving to downtown Cleveland. In fact, the property ultimately favored by the global data center and networking optimization firm matched the company’s requirements almost exactly. However, a title has yet to transfer to Park Place Technologies or any affiliates.
The firm has entered into a purchase and sale agreement with Progressive Direct Insurance Company to acquire a 23-acre, six-structure campus located at 747-755 Alpha Dr. in Highland Heights for Park Place Technologies’ potential new global headquarters, according to a written statement shared with NEOtrans today. The company, with facilities currently in Mayfield Heights and Solon, said it has commenced formal due diligence on the prospective site, which is expected to take approximately three to four months.
“Park Place Technologies wants to thank Mayor Brunello and Highland Heights City Council and looks forward to engaging in formal discussions with the city, as well as county and state leadership,” said Michael Miller, director of global communications Park Place Technologies, in the written statement. “Park Place Technologies anticipates making a final site selection decision in early 2024.”
Today’s announcement did not reveal any potential transaction dollar figures or public incentives offered. For tax purposes, Cuyahoga County in 2022 appraised the land and structures of the Alpha campus with a value of $20,057,500. A sale listing on LoopNet for a portion of the Alpha site had no asking price published either. Progressive has its own real estate brokers handling the deal.
As seen from Alpha Drive, the Progressive Insurance complex is one of several along I-271. This 230,000-square-foot office campus is Progressive’s smallest of the three, but also includes a warehouse and parking garage that fit Park Place Technologies’ needs (Google).
According to sources who spoke to NEOtrans on the condition of anonymity, Park Place originally was interested in expanding into a neighboring building at its current headquarters location, Building No. 2 in the Landerbrook Corporate Center, 5910 Landerbrook Dr, in Mayfield Heights. There, the company leases the entire 108,000-square-foot Building No. 2. The neighboring and identically sized offices, Building No. 3, 5920 Landerbrook, was being vacated by Progressive Insurance.
As Park Place executives expressed their interest in Landerbrook Building No. 3, the source said they apparently learned Progressive was also departing other offices as well, including its Alpha campus and its much-larger, 1-million-square-foot Campus 1 on Wilson Mills, built in 1993-1994. Progressive chose to consolidate its in-office staff into Campus 2, 300 North Commons Blvd., in Mayfield Village. That campus was completed a decade later and across I-271. The Alpha campus is just north of Wilson Mills.
At the Alpha campus are three two-story office buildings and one single-level office building dating from 1968 to 2020 and totaling 230,000 square feet, according to Cuyahoga County property records. The largest of those offices is the newest — a 95,197-square-foot, two story building facing Interstate 271. There is also a 34,000-square-foot warehouse dating from 1973 and a three level, 164,160-square-foot parking garage built in 2020. A large parking lot around the northern perimeter of the property offers more than 1,000 spaces while a 228-space parking lot fronts the warehouse, according to its listing on LoopNet.
This September 2022 view shows four of the six structures at Progressive Insurance’s Alpha campus, including its warehouse at right, parking garage beyond, its newest and largest office building in the background, and a 1979-built office building at left (Google).
The 32-year-old company issued a request for proposals last year that it was seeking 150,000 to 250,000 square feet of offices and a 10,000-square-foot data center. It also was looking to relocate up to 30,000 square feet of warehouse space from its current location in Solon to the same site as its offices and data center. It preferred an existing building but also was willing to make modifications to its final landing spot. One of those spots it reportedly considered was the former Plain Dealer building, 1801 Superior Ave., on the east side of Downtown Cleveland.
“Park Place Technologies wants to thank the city of Cleveland and Mayor Justin Bibb, and members of his administration, for their genuine efforts to secure a suitable site for our global headquarters within the city of Cleveland,” Miller added. “We also want to thank the other dozen Northeast Ohio communities that submitted compelling proposals. While in due diligence, Park Place Technologies remains in discussions with and wants to thank Mayor Anthony DeCicco of its current home city of Mayfield Heights.”
The pending move comes as a surprise to some real estate industry observers who told NEOtrans in January that they did not expect Park Place Technologies to leave Mayfield Heights. Instead, they suspected that the RFP issued by the company was released merely to secure public incentives from the suburb to aid in its expansion efforts. But it ultimately created a competition that Highland Heights won.
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