NOVEMBER 4, 2024
Cavs ‘double down’ on city Barlage reaffirms the team’s dedication to downtown Cleveland By Kim Palmer A rendering shows a renovated Progressive Field. | MANICA
Second phase of renovations at Progressive Field are underway Projects include Terrace Hub, Carnegie Club and administrative office upgrades By Joe Scalzo
Jim Folk is tasked with overseeing the Progressive Field renovation project, yet late last month he was rooting for construction delays. “I really wish we were either celebrating winning Game 6 or getting ready to play Game 7,”
Folk, the Cleveland Guardians’ vice president of ballpark improvements, said on Tuesday, Oct. 22. Instead, some members of Folk’s maintenance crew arrived at the ballpark as early as 5 a.m. the previous Sunday, just a few hours after the Guardians were eliminated from the ALCS
via a 5-2 extra-innings loss to the New York Yankees at Progressive Field. “We were able to get started in earnest on some of the demolition activities,” he said. The Guardians’ postseason run delayed Phase 2 of the Progressive Field renovations by about three weeks, but
Folk and Co. are confident they’ll be ready in time for the Guardians’ home opener against the Chicago White Sox on April 8, 2025. (It helps that the team is starting the season on a nine-game road trip.) See FIELD on Page 28
Nic Barlage, CEO of Rock Entertainment Group, went from talking about his efforts to improve company culture and working to retain talent to commenting on Cleveland retaining a certain professional sports team at a packed Team NEO event Thursday, Oct. 24, at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Asked what a possible move by the Browns from Cleveland to Brook Park might mean for the two remaining downtown sports teams, Barlage, who leads the company that owns the Cleveland Cavaliers, said professional sports franchises are important “pillars” in their cities. “I will tell you, our thesis on this (has) been borne out in Detroit, and it will be borne out in Cleveland. We feel that, in the urban core of these mid-American See CAVS on Page 29
Cushman & Wakefield Cresco names next managing director Bryce Sylvester joins the brokerage from Team NEO By Stan Bullard
Cushman & Wakefield Cresco, the Independence commercial realty brokerage, has named Bryce Sylvester its next managing director effective this month. He joins the brokerage from Team NEO, where he was managing director of site strategies.
view after issuing a news Like Nathan Kelly, release announcing the whom he will replace as decision by the brokerKelly is joining the Playage’s principals. house Square Founda“Bryce’s expertise in tion, Sylvester’s experieconomic development ence is in economic and community leaderdevelopment and govship makes him the perernment rather than the fect fit,” Kelly said. “His rough-and-tumble broappointment underkerage field where com- Bryce Sylvester scores the success of pensation is based on our nontraditional approach of commission earnings. “The ownership likes the mod- placing a nonbroker in this role. el,” Kelly said in a phone inter- This strategy has fueled our
growth, doubling our size and delivering record-breaking performance year after year. With Bryce leading our talented team, we’re confident our clients will continue to benefit from this innovative leadership.” Sylvester certainly has a vast network of contacts, a key part of commercial realty brokerage and related service operations. Not only would that include realty agents, developers and real estate owners, but the region’s
property owners, developers and government officials have been regular contacts in his work at Team NEO since late 2021. Although Kelly joined Cresco from county government, he previously served as director of planning and development in Lakewood, Cuyahoga County’s third-largest suburb in terms of population. See SYLVESTER on Page 29
VOL. 45, NO. 41 l COPYRIGHT 2024 CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC. l ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
ENVIRONMENT With a recent acquisition, Kent’s Davey Tree gets into the shoreline restoration biz. PAGE 3
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