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11/18/2011
3:21 PM
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$2.00/NOVEMBER 21 - 27, 2011
Lending is back for big-ticket property
With skills in demand, area trade schools rise PowerSport Institute, tech college eye growth
But preference goes to newer commercial sites with low vacancy
By DAN SHINGLER dshingler@crain.com
With a lot of people looking to switch careers or pursue an education in something more pragmatic and potentially profitable than, say, literary history, the Cleveland-based Ohio Technical College and its PowerSport Institute in North Randall have had little trouble finding new students during the economic slump. As a result, the trade schools have continued to grow, said Marc Brenner, the owner of both. Now Mr. Brenner might develop a campus in Cleveland or take over more space in long-suffering Randall Park Mall, where the PowerSport Institute already is the largest tenant. “We’ve got about 1,500 students now,” Mr. Brenner said of the two schools’ combined enrollment. “We hit 1,000 about four years ago, and 10 years ago we were at about 400, so we’re still growing.” Ohio Technical College includes the PowerSport Institute and its 250 students. In total, it already has more students than Hiram, Lake Erie or Ursuline colleges, as well as the Cleveland Institute of Art, Mr. Brenner notes, citing Crain’s research on area schools. The schools teach students skills that will enable them to repair, restore,customize and maintain vehicles ranging from passenger automobiles and trucks to motorcycles, snowmobiles
By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com
In our first Forty Under 40 section — published Oct. 28, 1991 — Crain’s editor Mark Dodosh wrote that “the easy part was the abundance of people under 40 who came to our attention and merit recognition. ... The tough part was
choosing which folks to include.” It’s a challenge we’ve faced for 20 years, picking from a bevy of talented, youthful difference makers in Northeast Ohio. Here, our 20th class, and updates on 60 of our past honorees. Enjoy. PAGES F1-F30
See SCHOOLS Page 41
Commercial real estate lending in Northeast Ohio has begun its journey down the comeback trail, though obstacles remain for developers and property buyers that are keeping the path to loans from being as smooth as it was prior to the 2008 financial crisis. Two recent deals are illustrative of recovery — at least in the Class A, or high, end of the commercial market. First Interstate Properties Ltd., through an affiliate, secured a $5 million mortgage Oct. 18 from Huntington Bank for the last phase of the acquisition of Oakwood Country Club, which straddles the border of Cleveland Heights and South Euclid. First Interstate plans to turn the property into a big-box shopping center in South Euclid and an agerestricted residential and continuing care community in Cleveland Heights. Likewise, Archetype Advisors, a private equity-backed lender in Miami Beach, provided $21 million to Pittsburgh-based PWA Real Estate when it acquired Great Northern Corporate Center in North Olmsted last month from Duke Realty Corp. of Indianapolis. However, the road to a rebound See LENDING Page 6
Founder, new owner of bankrupt software firm play blame game By CHUCK SODER csoder@crain.com
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A game of who’s to blame is under way in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of MK2 Technologies LLC, which once was one of the region’s fastest-growing information technology companies.
In one of several documents MK2 filed when it sought Bankruptcy Court protection from creditors in late October, the Cleveland company’s lawyers argue that founder Donald E. Kasper II failed to disclose that MK2 was delinquent on “substantial” obligations when he sold the business to its current
owner in July 2010. In an email to Crain’s, Mr. Kasper said he was “not surprised” by the allegation. “All I can say is that they conducted their due diligence and had full access to everything,” he wrote in the email. MK2 owes creditors $1.5 million
but has only $630,000 in assets, according to documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Cleveland. The creditor that is owed the most money is Huntington National Bank, which has filed both a $410,000 blanket lien on all the company’s assets and a judgment lien for another $245,000, which
MK2 is disputing. The company also owes the federal government $254,000 in unpaid taxes, in addition to another $56,000 in state and local taxes. MK2 — which provides custom software development, hosting and IT staffing services — employs 15 See MK2 Page 42
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INSIDE
Akron electric car manufacturer still hopes plan can work — but he’ll need more cash ■ Page 3 PLUS: HEALTH CARE DEVELOPMENT ■ RICK PERRY LESSONS ■ & MORE
Entire contents © 2011 by Crain Communications Inc. Vol. 32, No. 47