Progressive’s office spaces to be slashed

By Ken Prendergast / July 26, 2023

All Progressive Insurance employees received a notice this morning announcing that, due to remote working, the company would be slashing the square footage of active office spaces and attempt to sell or lease those it will no longer occupy. As a result, about 850 employees who continue to work in the office will be consolidated into the company’s Campus 2, 300 North Commons Blvd. It will also move the corporate headquarters from Campus 1, 6300 Wilson Mills Rd., but remain in Mayfield Village.

Greater Cleveland office market still struggling

By Ken Prendergast / April 11, 2023

Newmark, one of the world’s leading real estate services firms, issued its first quarter 2023 (23Q1) office market report for Greater Cleveland today and it continues to show a worsening situation in the region’s office sector. While only one submarket within Greater Cleveland showed an increase in office occupancies, none are taking it on the chin more than the central business district (CBD), its retailers, restaurants and transportation providers. But that data may have been disproportionately affected by a major deal.

Berkadia to expand at Key Tower

By Ken Prendergast / March 27, 2023

By the end of this year, commercial loan originator Berkadia Commercial Mortgage will be showing off its greatly expanded offices on the 14th floor of Key Tower, 127 Public Square. And that expansion offers a couple of statements about Greater Cleveland’s economy in general and downtown Cleveland in particular.

More downtown firms making moves

By Ken Prendergast / March 5, 2023

Three legal and financial service firms in downtown Cleveland are on the move to new addresses in the central business district, with two firms seeking smaller spaces as part of an ongoing trend by many office-based employers to downsize their work spaces after the pandemic. The third firm moved to accommodate significant new growth in Cleveland. And each firm is staying downtown, investing in their new office locations, with none of the three seeking a reduction in employment. Indeed, even as some office spaces shrink, the number of employees at those tenants’ aren’t shrinking. Instead, they are taking advantage of remote working and web-based contact with clients.

EY moving across downtown

By Ken Prendergast / February 14, 2023

Although rumored for weeks, the announcement that EY (formerly Ernst & Young) is moving its offices out of one of only two trophy-class buildings in downtown Cleveland still came as a surprise to some longtime real estate executives. The 23-story office tower at 950 Main Ave. at Flats East Bank that bears Ernst & Young’s name has been one of downtown’s most expensive and successfully leased since it opened in 2013.

Downtown’s next high-rise to turn residential

By Ken Prendergast / February 2, 2023

Downtown Cleveland’s next office-to-residential conversion project appears to be in the works. But this one might not be a total changeover to a new use. Ohio Savings Plaza, with more than a half-million square feet divided among two buildings has something big going for it — it’s half-filled with office tenants. Or, half-empty if you’re a pessimist.

Seeds & Sprouts XXV — Park Place Tech stays, LaSalle Theater available, Grant Thornton moving

By Ken Prendergast / January 13, 2023

Park Place Technologies will stay and expand in Mayfield Heights. Collinwood’s LaSalle Theater, now stabilized, is up for sale. And Grant Thornton, one of the nation’s largest accounting firms, is moving and shrinking its downtown Cleveland office.

What we may see in 2023

By Ken Prendergast / January 2, 2023

When it comes to business, real estate and community investment, there’s a lot to look forward to in Greater Cleveland in 2023. Look no further than the new Canon Healthcare headquarters, Bedrock real estate’s riverfront plans, Midtown Cleveland developments, booming University Circle and its spillover into long-neglected neighborhoods, the next artist district in Cleveland, ballpark villages around our city’s sport venues, lakefront plans and projects, transit-oriented developments, plus the skyscrapers under construction downtown.

Postmortem on Medical Mutual’s HQ decision

By Ken Prendergast / December 27, 2022

The decision for Medical Mutual of Ohio to abandon its downtown Cleveland headquarters for suburban Brooklyn was apparently less of a strategic move and more of a matter of which city’s public incentives got used first. And according to a local real estate insider, it was a short-term decision that could end up biting the Fortune 1000 company and downtown in their hind ends in the long term.

Reactivating downtown Cleveland

By Ken Prendergast / November 10, 2022

In the late 20th century, downtown Cleveland rolled up its sidewalks after 5 p.m. Now, on some weekdays, it seems like downtown doesn’t roll out its sidewalks until after 5 p.m. That shows how much downtown has changed in the post-pandemic world from a commercial district to a residential, entertainment and tourism center.