EA University is our company’s once a month off-site meeting to ensure our 20+ team members have the most current information to share with candidates, new hires, and their families. Our latest meeting took us downtown. We spent the morning with Joe Marinucci, President of Downtown Cleveland Alliance (DCA), the nonprofit organization that was formed by neighborhood-based organizations, property owners, and downtown businesses to promote the long-term economic health of Cleveland. In 2005, downtown property owners voted to create an SID (Special Improvement District) with a self-imposed tax to help fund improved services in their neighborhood such as the very visible Clean & Safe Ambassadors, who keep downtown clean, visitor friendly, and provide additional security.
DCA’s President, Joe Marinucci, shares the growth vision for downtown Cleveland with EA staff.
While admitting that Cleveland’s downtown is still behind the curve set by cities comparable to our size in the Midwest (Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Columbus), they are happy that they will hit their goal of 20,000 residents by 2020. There are currently 1,500 units that have either just recently opened are are still under construction including:
The Beacon, 187 units
The Athlon, 161 units
Residences at Terminal Tower, 297 units
Euclid Grand, 228 units
May Company, 309 units
The Lumen, 318 units
Prospect Yard, 42 units
The Avenue Townhomes, 32 units
With downtown residents approaching the 20,000 mark, retailers are starting to take notice. Many believe that there will be some interesting retail announcements from national retail chains in the next year or two, which would only help make the decision easier for those who are the fence about urban living (but where do I shop?).
Joe mentioned one thing DCA is proud of is their involvement in finding adaptive reuses for almost three million square feet of older buildings including the former Cleveland Board of Education building that is now the Drury Hotel and the former East Ohio Gas headquarters that is now the Residences at 1717 apartments. One ginormous project underway is The Centennial, a gorgeous turn-of-the-century bank building which will be mixed use with offices, residential, and retail and will add as much as a million square feet of additional space in downtown Cleveland.
Joe also talked about downtown Cleveland’s first playground. Construction is now underway near the Great Lakes Science Center.
EA’s Jeff Moreau, Laura Uhle, Suzanne Dannemiller, Lynne Brenner, Peg Furnas, and Kristen Joyce enjoy lunch at Heinen’s downtown
Afterwards, we enjoyed lunch in the beautiful atrium of Heinen’s downtown to share our thoughts on what we just learned. This year, DCA’s theme is Build Something. As surface parking lots and empty buildings are revamped into hotels and apartments, offices, retail, and restaurants, there is more being developed than infrastructure. They are building safety, access to amenities, a better experience for people; they are building a neighborhood.
If your company could use some help turning reluctant candidates into Cleveland enthusiasts, EA is here to help. More than 150 times a year, we introduce out-of-towners to Northeast Ohio and help them embrace the possibility of living here. Let us turn your first choice candidates into employees faster! Call us at 216.231.9311.