At just seven years ago, the former IBM Explorys building is still young. But new owner Canon Healthcare USA has big changes in store for the structure to accommodate the imaging business and its equipment (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Interior demolition work to start soon
After nearly a year since it acquired an office building in Cleveland’s University Circle and two years since it announced a partnership with Cleveland Clinic, Canon Healthcare USA has now revealed that it is moving forward with modifications to that office building for its headquarters.
The reveal has come in the form of a building permit application for interior demolition work at the former IBM Explorys building, 10500 Cedar Ave., so Canon can convert the structure into what it calls its Comprehensive Imaging Resource Center. About 50 new, permanent high-paying jobs will be at Canon’s facility.
On Dec. 4, Stephen Myers, the design-build director at Panzica Construction of Mayfield Village, submitted application documents to the city’s Building Department for demolition work to be done to 30,000 square feet of space on both floors of the two-story, 41,630-square-foot building. Panzica is the project’s general contractor.
The work, estimated at $300,000, involves the removal of walls, counters and cabinets of existing conference rooms, offices and huddle rooms as well the removal of a significant amount of ceiling panels, electrical wiring, data boxes and fixtures. There will also be excavations of first-floor trenches for new concrete slabs.
One might wonder why so much work needs to be done to a building constructed just seven years ago. The answer is in the nature of Canon Healthcare’s business for which Cleveland successfully competed.
So far, the only change Canon Healthcare USA has made to its new headquarters building in Cleveland’s Univiersity Circle is to put its name on it. That’s about to change (Dwain Ross II, Photographer, Untapped Visuals).
“Demolition in preparation for the building renovation for medical imaging equipment,” Myers noted in his application.
The blueprints explain that the installation of new, recessed concrete slabs are needed to not only handle the weight of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines and their heavy magnets, but to provide radio frequency (RF) shielding to prevent electromagnetic interference.
Standard MRI scanning equipment weighs up to 400 pounds, with wide-bore MRIs weighing as much as 550 pounds, not including their occupants. Bariatric MRIs with their high-capacity tables can support at least 660 pounds.
Canon is investing a total of $33.65 million to buy and retrofit the building, although these amounts were not separated out in media statements issued last winter. Construction permit applications have not yet been submitted to the city but are likely to follow the demolition work soon thereafter.
The 2018-built, former IBM Explorys building was previously owned by 105th Cedar Partners LLC, an affiliate of the Geis Companies. But the 2.3 acres of land on which it sets remains in the ownership of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
Canon Healthcare USA’s new headquarters is just one of many shiny new buildings in Cleveland’s booming University Circle (Canon).
According to Cuyahoga County property records, in February, Canon took over Geis’ 50-year ground lease of the property. The lease was begun in 2017. Canon has an option to extend the lease for another 50 years.
In 2024, Cuyahoga County appraised the value of the building at $8,425,400 for tax purposes. Although the land is tax-exempt since the Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit, Geis is not. It paid $358,423.34 in taxes on the building last year, county records show.
The Ohio Department of Development, through its Ohio Tax Credit Authority, in February approved a 10-year, 2.842 percent job creation tax credit to Canon Healthcare USA to support its purchase of the building. The investment is part of the state’s Cleveland Innovation District.
To attract Canon Healthcare’s headquarters, the city of Cleveland provided to Canon a five-year, 50-percent payroll tax credit on the 2.5 percent income tax withheld by Canon. The company plans to have in Cleveland an annual payroll of $7.5 million. Each of the 50 jobs will earn an average of $150,000 per year.
An email seeking more information sent to project architect Jae Cho, director at CBLH Design Inc. of Middleburg Heights, and a message left with Canon Healthcare USA’s media relations staff were not responded to prior to publication of this article.
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