20130902-NEWS--1-NAT-CCI-CL_--
8/30/2013
3:25 PM
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Vol. 34, No. 35
$2.00/SEPTEMBER 2 - 8, 2013
Entire contents © 2013 by Crain Communications Inc.
INSIDE
Honing their craft Software Craftsmanship Guild students are getting a crash course in a field that is very much in demand. PAGE 3
Jobs take a hit as mortgage rates rise STAN BULLARD
The former May Co. department store on Public Square could be turned into an apartment complex as part of a $100 million redevelopment project.
May Co. may see apartments Prominent developers look to cut deal for languishing former department store By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com
Three big names in Cleveland
real estate have set their sights on turning the old May Co. department store on Public Square into about 400 apartments as part of a
$100 million redevelopment project that would look to take advantage of locals’ hunger for downtown living. A joint venture led by David Goldberg, a longtime civic leader and real estate investor, and Landmark Management of Cleveland has reached an agreement with the building’s
Florida-based owner to buy much of the nearly 1 million-square-foot property, according to two people familiar with the situation. The potential deal is subject to multiple contingencies, such as the building makeover receiving crucial federal and state historic
By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com
STAN BULLARD
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A Ping-Pong table has a prominent place at Tackk’s headquarters.
Go by Brandmuscle’s office any Monday morning and you’ll see 160 employees of the marketing software firm gathered for updates in a huge café. The backdrop: a bank of windows just shy of half the length of a football field with views of the
downtown Cleveland skyline from the fifth floor of Oswald Centre. Drop in at the joint office of Tackk, a website that lets users quickly create web pages, and webbased funeral planner efuneral.com, in recently occupied space above the Agora Theater, and you may see a mini-basketball game, Nerf gun war, shuffleboard or Ping-Pong
game. The Ping-Pongers play 17 feet below a ceiling showing off twofoot-wide concrete beams that provide structural support for the hallowed concert hall below them. Less than two miles separate Brandmuscle’s new home at 1100 Superior Ave. and the Tackk/efuneral.com space on the third floor of 5000 Euclid Ave. However, they show the variety of impact technology companies are exerting on Northeast Ohio’s commercial real estate market. See TECH Page 6
See RATES Page 7
See PROJECT Page 5
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Presented by:
HEALTH CARE SUMMIT
By MICHELLE PARK mpark@crain.com
Despite Bank of America announcing last week that it would be eliminating the jobs of about 700 Cleveland-area employees who process mortgage loans, a number of Northeast Ohio mortgage originators remain bullish on business — and even say they’re hiring. Bank of America’s decision to close its operations in Beachwood and Independence — which together employ more than 1,000 workers — comes amid a 34% increase so far this year in the average interest rate on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages. In late August, secondary mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported 30-year, fixedrate mortgages averaged 4.58%, up from 3.41% during January. In commenting on the reasons for its actions, which include laying off another 100 “home loan fulfillment” employees in Cincinnati, Bank of America said it was working to “align our cost structure with market realities, including declining (mortgage) refinance volume resulting from rising interest rates.” And it is not alone in blaming a climb in rates for significant job cuts.
Tech companies now big players Businesses in sector have become major tenants in the region’s real estate market
But some Northeast Ohio executives say they’re hiring brokers, are ‘very optimistic’
S E P T 25
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