The silver Sherwin-Williams headquarters tower is at center-left in this Downtown Cleveland skyline sunset view. Work continues on the new 616-foot tower and its pavilion on Public Square, including construction repairs that will delay the grand opening ceremony by seven months (Paul J. Heney). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Initial plan was to hold ceremony next month
NEOtrans was first to report several weeks ago that a grand-opening ceremony for Sherwin-Williams’ new headquarters was scheduled for next month despite that a “major hiccup and flaw” in construction of the tower had to be repaired. Now, that ceremony has been pushed back by seven months, according to public records secured by NEOtrans.
The public record is a filing with the city for its planned grand-opening event on the north half of Public Square. The record includes an updated letter that was originally filed last month with the scheduled event date of March 12.
In yesterday’s filing, the old date on the letter was crossed out and a new date of October 22, 2025 penned in. It also notes the event will be held from 5-10 p.m.
As before, AAble Rents of Euclid will provide at Sherwin-Williams’ request two tents totaling 9,312 square feet, a bathroom trailer and electricity. The event will now be set up starting on Oct. 14 and taken down on Oct. 23. Cost of the event is estimated at $125,000, which is also unchanged from before.
The global coatings giant’s new headquarters is located immediately west of Public Square. It includes a new 36-story office tower, a two-story pavilion and five-level parking garage north of a vacated portion of Frankfort Avenue.
Delays to the building’s construction are due to fire protectant not being sufficiently applied to the building’s structural steel, according to multiple media reports. Additional fire protectant is being applied, including to areas of the building that were already finished, a source told NEOtrans on the condition of anonymity.
Sherwin-Williams’ headquarters employees informed NEOtrans that they are being told that move-in schedules for the new tower will be provided to them no later than next month. Employees and their office equipment will be moved over in groups, or waves, every two weeks or so.
A filing with the city’s Building Department shows a January building permit application for tents, bathroom trailer and electricity at Sherwin-Williams’ HQ grand-opening ceremony was updated with a few strokes of a pen (Cleveland Building Department).
There may be as many as 15 waves. The company had hoped to provide up to six months advanced notice for each wave but now there will likely be less notice, the employees said. Employees will likely move into the tower from the bottom to the top.
Offices in the lower part of the tower were built first and generally will be occupied first, starting in late spring or early summer. Persons working in offices that are to be relocated last said they probably won’t make the move until December, putting the completed move-in one year behind schedule.
More than 3,000 employees will migrate over to the new headquarters from the old, which is located mostly in two buildings in the Tower City Center complex — the Landmark Building, 101 W. Prospect Ave., and the Skylight Office Tower, 1660 W. 2nd St.
Prior to publication of this article, company spokespersons did not respond to NEOtrans’ questions about the grand opening ceremony’s delay.
Sherwin-Williams’ Building Our Future Web site which provides updates on the construction of its new downtown headquarters and suburban research facilities hasn’t been updated since November. The headquarters progress page was updated at least monthly throughout 2024 until then.
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