Greater Cleveland’s office market is showing some signs of recovery, and this is being fueled by the many development projects in the works. Planned developments include a casino to be located in the Tower City area opening sometime in 2013 and a proposed Medical Mart facility, which will be located next to Cleveland’s convention center in the heart of downtown.
Another projected office development is the East Bank project by Scott Wolstein, which will house the national headquarters for Ernst & Young and law firm Tucker-Ellis. The project will be the first phase of a planned office, retail and residential development at the edge of Cleveland’s historic warehouse district. Eaton Corporation also is planning a new 400,000-square-foot campus in the Chagrin Highland’s 630-acre corporate community on Cleveland’s east side, which will leave Eaton’s current building at 12th Street and Superior, in the central business district, with more than 300,000 square feet available.
Other major deals in the works are the relocation of Huntington Bank (approximately 100,000 square feet) from its namesake historic property at East 9th Street and Euclid to the former BP building, which is now 200 Public Square. The iconic bank building is home to several large firms looking to relocate, as the future of the building remains uncertain. The 300,000-square-foot former East Ohio Gas Building, located at 1717 East 9th St., was shuttered by its new owners in 2009 then offered in a sealed-bid auction; no new plans for the property have been announced.
Cleveland continues to be buoyed by the construction and expansion of The Cleveland Clinic and University Hospital along with additions to Case Western Reserve University. Additional facilities continue to be planned and built in the University Circle area as well as substantial suburban medical campus facilities in Avon andTwinsburg.
Cleveland’s overall vacancy rate is in the 11.1 percent range, with an additional 2 percent added for available sublease space. Class A rental rates average quoted rate was $21.35. Some markets, Chagrin Corridor for example, are seeing vacancy rates in the low single digits.
— Don Lydon is a vice president with Chartwell Group LLC/TCN Worldwide in Cleveland.