A lobby and common area at The Hive, a tech-focused office building with entrances on Center Street and the Superior Viaduct (Lynn Ischay/The Plain Dealer).
CLEVELAND, Ohio – When Chad and Svetlana Kertesz purchased a property on the edge of Ohio City and the West Bank of the Flats last year, the six-floor building was vacant save for one tenant.
Now, after undergoing what the couple described as "cosmetic renovations," the building at 2019 Center St. – dubbed "The Hive" – is nearly full. With well-known Cleveland-based architecture, engineering and construction firm Richard L. Bowen & Associates, Inc., recently signed to the building for a new corporate headquarters, the building will be about 80% occupied.
From the outset, the goal was not just to lease the building, but to bring in a specific type of tenant: namely, young, tech-focused companies. The space is not a co-working environment, but a place where businesses have their own offices and room to expand.
“It’s a different approach to real estate,” said Rico Pietro of Cushman & Wakefield/Cresco, who represented the Kerteszes in the sale and is handling leasing for the building. “We had a specific goal in mind that we were going to find the right kind of companies to create a really cool community here.”
EmployStream workers enjoy a relaxed, open office space with cushions, exposed bricks and interesting views from their space in "The Hive" (Lynn Ischay/The Plain Dealer).
EmployStream, a start-up company that creates technology to help companies speed up their hiring processes, moved into The Hive in May, drawn by the open-concept office and the building’s placement in a trendy, walkable neighborhood.
“There just seemed to be a lot of newer energy that was happening on this side of the Flats that we got excited about,” said Andre Mileti, head of sales for the company. “The big thing was the concept of having this tech hive, and being with other start-ups that have similar ideologies just made it super attractive.”
Another selling point is the rent. On average, the companies are paying less than $20 per square foot, which is competitive with the going rate in many area office buildings.
The offices of My Place Group, seen through the window of The Hive (Lynn Ischay/The Plain Dealer).
Chad Kertesz got his start in real-estate as a teenager, when he started working for his family's development business. He and Svetlana have since branched out on their own as My Place Group, developing a number of residential and commercial properties, including projects on the near-West Side. They saw how the area's residential market was booming, and believed the time was right to develop office space.
“We could have looked at converting it into apartments, but I believed, and it’s coming to fruition now, that the business owners are going to want to be here because their employees want to live right down the street,” said Chad.
The neighborhood was a draw for R.L. Bowen & Associates, which decided, with its 60th anniversary coming up and its recent transition into a 100% employee-owned firm, it was time to move from its corporate headquarters on Shaker Boulevard.
“We wanted to change not only the ownership and management of the office, but the environment itself, and changing locations goes a long way in doing that,” said company President Allan Renzi.
The firm looked at a number of locations, but employees liked The Hive the most. “It fit our desired environment,” Renzi said. “We were looking for something with character. We were looking for something inspiring, something encouraging, and that was in a good location.”
The company, whose stature and staff of about 50 will help anchor the project, will move into a multi-floor space in October.
(Lynn Ischay/The Plain Dealer)
My Place Group purchased the building, which dates back to 1900, for $1.66 million last April from K&D Group, owner of the nearby Stonebridge residential complex. The building at 2019 Center St. had been used as an office component of the Stonebridge development, but emptied out a few years ago, most notably with the relocation of the Cuyahoga County Engineer's office to the consolidated county headquarters at the former Ameritrust complex downtown.
The only tenant in the building when My Place Group purchased it was Luca Italian Cuisine, on the Superior Viaduct. Luca remains in its space on the fifth floor.
The Kerteszes declined to say how much they invested in renovating the building, but said it did not require any major repairs. Mostly, they updated lighting, flooring and painting to give the building a more modern feel.
(Lynn Ischay/The Plain Dealer)
The view from the office of TPI Efficiency President Roger Zona (Lynn Ischay/The Plain Dealer).
The building prominently features wood elements, as well as exposed brick and ducts. Neutral color palettes are accented with pops of brighter colors. And on every floor of the building, handblown, dangling Edison lighting fixtures are visible. Views of downtown Cleveland and the Flats are on display through large windows that flood the office spaces with natural light. Brighter colors and new equipment were added to a gym that is open to tenants.
The building’s lower levels are occupied by some of the smaller, tech-focused companies. My Place Group moved its own office into the building. TPI Efficiency, whose president, Roger Zona, is an investor in the building, relocated from a nearby office to occupy the top floor and part of the fifth.
Pietro is in the process of finding tenants for the remaining spaces, with hopes of luring at least one company that would be new to the Cleveland market.
Scroll down for additional photos.
The entrance to TPI efficiency at The Hive. Designers worked to meld the history of the building with sleek, modern additions (Lynn Ischay/The Plain Dealer).
Another view of the relaxed, open office space where start-up software company EmployStream is based (Lynn Ischay/The Plain Dealer).
Another office leased by a small company with a tech focus (Lynn Ischay/The Plain Dealer).
The wisr offices in "The Hive" (Lynn Ischay/The Plain Dealer).
TPI Efficiency, whose president is an investor in the building, takes up the top floor and part of the fifth (Lynn Ischay/The Plain Dealer).
An interesting view of Cleveland from an office at TPI efficiency in The Hive (Lynn Ischay/The Plain Dealer).
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