Crain's Cleveland Business

FLYING HIGH

Richfield company developing bigger and more capable drone technology.

CRAIN’S LIST: Women take more of the highest positions at public companies. PAGE 14

PAGE 15

CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM I JUNE 20, 2022

HOMEOWNERS FEEL SQUEEZED

Policy researchers and housing advocates push for relief. Page 8

Phyllis Bambeck sits on her porch in the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood of Cleveland. Bambeck has lived in her home since 1971 and her property taxes have quadrupled over the last decade. | GUS CHAN FOR CRAIN’S CLEVELAND

Midsize events boost sports tourism industry

BY JOE SCALZO

Like butter and ice cream, Cleveland’s sports tourism industry benefits from churn.

While there were no mega events like the NBA All-Star Game and the NFL Draft on the spring calendar, the city has gotten a boost in the last few weeks from midsize events like the downtown Cleveland Marathon, as well as the USA Wrestling trials and Division III outdoor track and field championships at Spire Institute and Academy.

“We’ve been very fortunate that we’ve been on a heck of a roll in terms of hosting a lot of those mega events,” said David Gilbert, president and CEO of the Greater Cleveland See TOURISM on Page 16

Digital grocers seek local store fronts

BY STAN BULLARD

More than 850 athletes competed at the Division III track and field championships on May 26-28, 2022, at Spire Institute and Academy. | SPIRE INSTITUTE AND ACADEMY

The signs are not going up yet, but plans for an Amazon Fresh — the online juggernaut’s grocery offering that gives consumers the option to skip cashier lines by using their smartphones — are in the works for North Olmsted, the suburb west of Cleveland.

Along with the region’s other food purveyors, it will join the region’s second DashMart location, which opened this spring on Lorain Road, also in North Olmsted, and offers walk-up convenience for customers and delivery services, though not

the ability to shop its shelves.

Amazon Fresh is identified as a tenant for the former Bed, Bath & Beyond space at Great Northern Plaza in leasing plans on the website of Bridge 33, a Seattle real estate company that acquired the regional open-air plaza last fall.

Blueprints on file at North Olmsted City Hall show plans to replace the hip-roofed canopy of the storefront with a boxy facade and windows similar to those in photos of Amazon Fresh stores on the Seattle company’s website.

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REAL ESTATE

Westin Cleveland Downtown hotel sells for $40.2M after court fight

BY MICHELLE JARBOE

The Westin Cleveland Downtown has been sold for $40.2 million, in the culmination of a 20-month fight over the future of one of the city’s largest lodging properties.

HEI Hotels & Resorts, a Connecticut-based hospitality company, bought the 484-room hotel late Thursday, June 16. Tim Collins, the court-appointed receiver who has shepherded the property for more than a year, confirmed in an interview that the deal is done.

The transaction does not end a legal saga that started in October 2020, when a lender on the property filed to foreclose. There’s still likely to be wrangling over money from the sale.

But the real estate is no longer in limbo.

Privately held HEI is a major operator of Westin hotels across the country. In addition to paying $40.2 million in cash for the Cleveland property, an HEI affiliate agreed to take over city and state loans with a combined balance of roughly $2.75 million.

An attorney representing HEI did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

The sale followed a week of legal drama, as the hotel’s prior owner attempted to stave off a transfer. But that company, an affiliate of Florida-based Optima Ventures, did not

After more than a year in receivership, the Westin Cleveland Downtown hotel has been sold to an affiliate of HEI Hotels & Resorts. | MICHELLE JARBOE/CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

muster the necessary cash to reclaim the Westin or stall the proceedings.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Cassandra Collier-Williams authorized the sale June 9. She gave Optima nearly a week to regain control of the property by paying roughly $52 million — the outstanding debt on the hotel.

Optima appealed her decision and unsuccessfully pursued a pause in the action.

The Eighth District Court of Appeals did approve a stay, but only if Optima posted a $43 million bond — roughly equal to the expected proceeds from the sale.

Unable or unwilling to make the

payment, the company made a last-minute entreaty to the Ohio Supreme Court. But after a flurry of legal filings Thursday, the reprieve did not come.

Optima is operating beneath a cloud of litigation and scrutiny that has made it difficult for the company to sell real estate or refinance property-level debt, according to court records. In civil lawsuits, the company and its affiliates are accused of using money from ill-gotten loans to buy properties in Cleveland and other U.S. cities.

No one has been charged with a crime.

But Optima, once one of downtown Cleveland’s largest property owners, is the subject of a federal investigation into a purported international money-laundering scheme that nearly took down Ukraine’s largest bank in 2016.

In their appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court, Optima’s lawyers argued that posting a bond for the Westin was overkill. They asked for the hotel to be treated as collateral, instead, or for another week to come up with a much smaller payment, of $500,000 to $4 million, tied to the appeal.

The company’s attorneys claimed that the sale process was hasty and flawed. They also asserted that HEI was underpaying for the property.

Steven Miller, the lead lawyer for Optima in the Westin dispute, did not

return a phone call about the legal challenges and the sale.

“If the sale is permitted now, the receiver may then seek dismissal of this appeal on a contrived and bootstrapped argument of mootness,” he wrote in a motion filed with the Ohio Supreme Court only hours before the hotel changed hands.

The Westin’s troubles predate the coronavirus pandemic, which roiled the hospitality industry. Optima was struggling to make debt payments in 2019, according to court records.

The Cleveland International Fund, a private-equity lender based in Cleveland Heights, filed its foreclosure lawsuit after Optima failed to meet the terms of a forbearance agreement.

The fund originally lent $36 million to an Optima joint venture to support a $74 million makeover of the hotel. Optima bought the property, then a deteriorating Crowne Plaza, in 2011 and renovated it with Denver-based Sage Hospitality Group.

The Westin, at East Sixth Street and St. Clair Avenue, opened in May 2014.

Though the hotel is rebounding from the pandemic, the property still is losing more than $100,000 a month, Collins said during a trial court hearing in late May. The expenses piled up as the foreclosure litigation dragged on.

Meanwhile, HEI waited on the sidelines, after emerging as a wouldbe buyer for the Westin last summer and outlasting other suitors in a bidding process conducted by Collins and the CBRE Group Inc. brokerage.

“The record shows the hotel is currently costing creditors money to operate, and is worth less than Optima’s outstanding debt,” Collins and his attorneys wrote in a memo filed with the Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday afternoon.

The sale to HEI won’t make those creditors whole.

After paying off property-tax bills and the $4.6 million balance on a short-term loan that kept the hotel afloat over the last year, Collins will have approximately $33 million left.

Optima owes the Cleveland International Fund upwards of $43 million, between principal and interest, according to court records.

Unless Optima and the fund reach a settlement over their lingering differences, a court will have to decide how and when that money gets dispersed.

Steve Strnisha, the fund’s CEO, said he’s pleased that the sale is complete. “We’ve been in support of this,” he said Thursday. “And we felt that the price was fair and appropriate, given the situation.”

Michelle Jarboe: michelle.jarboe@ crain.com, (216) 771-5437, @mjarboe

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HEALTH CARE

Growth of Unite Ohio supports community organizations and individuals in need

BY LYDIA COUTRÉ

who were trying to connect individuals in need with resources had limited Unite Ohio — a referral network ways beyond anecdotes to know if that connects health care and social they ultimately got those services. But services — continues to grow nearly with Unite Ohio, they can track cases two years after its launch and is help- and analyze metrics overall.

“The beauty of this platform is that ing to deepen organizations’ collaboration and knowledge of one another we are all held accountable as a netas they work to support individuals in work and measuring that gap closure is so important,” said Candice Kortyneed.

MetroHealth partnered with New ka, customer success manager with York-based technology company Unite Us. Though community-based organiUnite Us to implement the Unite Ohio platform, which launched in Septem- zations are able to refer among thember 2020 and facilitates referrals selves using the tool, to date the maamong health systems, social service jority (95%) of referrals sent on Unite organizations and government agen- Ohio have been by health systems/ hospitals. cies.

At 32%, food is the most requested Since then, hundreds have signed on — 457 programs across Northeast need by referral volume, followed by Ohio, as of early June. Cleveland Clin- housing and shelter (15%) and then ic joined early in 2021, followed by St. individual and family support (7%).

The Greater Cleveland Food Bank, Vincent Charity Medical Center last fall. University Hospitals became a which joined the platform when it partner in April. Initially focused on launched, created a new role at the Northeast Ohio, the platform expand- start of this year to manage health ed to central Ohio earlier this year, care referrals that come through and now has 569 programs in 19 Unite Ohio. Previously, those referrals were handled across the team, but the counties across the state.

A patient in need of assistance (be organization was now able to create a job description and budget it food access, housing, emfor a salary to dedicate a ployment, transportation or staff position to it, said Lisa other social determinants Laditka, help center manof health) was once handed ager for the food bank. a list of agencies and phone To date, the organization numbers. Instead, a memis just shy of 3,000 referrals ber of that patient’s care received since joining Unite team can now use Unite Ohio. Being part of the netOhio to refer them to a work has helped expand community-based organithe team’s knowledge of zation best equipped to ad- Kortyka community resources and dress those needs, and deepened relationships someone at the organizaacross organizations, Ladittion will reach out. ka said.

“The referrals happening Additionally, Unite Ohio on the platform are providsets clear standards and exer to provider, organization pectations when organizato organization, so it’s really tions join the platform for strengthening our connecthings like how often to attions as organizations, on tempt to reach a client behalf of people in need,” they’ve been referred to. said Karen Cook, director of Cook “I think it’s comforting to healthy families and thrivknow that as you are making communities within ing these referrals that they MetroHealth’s Institute for will be taken very seriously, H.O.P.E. (Health, Opportuthat there will be several atnity, Partnership and Emtempts, and if the person is powerment). “It takes the not reached that you’ll very burden off of that patient or easily be able to go back in off of that individual who and see that outcome,” Lahas lots of other things to ditka said. worry about in their life.

The platform can show And then it puts the onus on Cunningham agencies which services us and on the community partners to, you know, be proactive in they’re most often referring out for terms of that outreach and engage- and how quickly those referrals are resolved or closed. Though the averment with the patient.”

Since launch, the platform has age time to accept has varied since served more than 7,000 individuals — Unite Ohio’s launch, overall it has remore than 6,000 of whom had co-oc- mained under four days, with 60% curring needs and received more accepted in two days or less. Connecthan one type of service. The partners tions or referrals that aren’t successful on Unite Ohio can meet roughly 150 offer a chance to identify gaps, Cunservice types, ranging from workforce ningham said.

“Was it unsuccessful because the to transportation to spiritual enrichment to utility assistance and more, resources weren’t there, and we need said Toni Cunningham, Ohio State to talk to someone about building these resources in our community?

Network Director for Unite Us. In addition to supporting referrals, Was it that these agencies that do the Unite Ohio tracks the data behind work are over capacity, and we need them, offering a view into an individ- to talk about increasing their capacity ual’s care journey so users can under- so they can truly serve the need?” she stand where else they’ve received ser- said. “So it gives you this data, not vices in the community — and what only for your own organization, but services they haven’t accessed but also to be able to have these community-level conversations around how may need.

Before this platform, nonprofits, are we doing in these areas and where agencies and their social workers, might we need to add support.”

The platform and its insights could case managers and other providers

also be a tool for targeted funding around social care, as organizations are fundraising or applying for grants, Kortyka said.

A community advisory council was established so users could talk about the elements of the platform that are important to them, said Dr. Nazleen Bharmal, associate chief for community health and partnerships at Cleveland Clinic. They’ve identified three key areas of focus, she said: network growth, data transparency and user experience.

Overall, having the platform has helped to strengthen relationships among the health systems and community-based organizations as they think about community health and what’s needed, Bharmal said, “and that’s been really quite energizing.”

Katherine Gerken, a behavioral health coordinator for UH, said Unite Ohio will help her serve more patients, because information that used to involve time-consuming research (such as an agency’s available resources and eligibility requirements) is now baked into the tool.

“Where previously, you know, it might take a couple of days to figure that information out, Unite Us kind of streamlines it, and we might know within like a day,” she said. “And so we can go back and make another referral on the platform, if we so choose.”

Plus, since she began using it in April, she’s already discovered organizations on the platform she didn’t previously know were in the community. Recently, Gerken made a referral to an organization she’d never worked with before: the Wickliffe Family Resource Center. Just a few hours later, her client had been contacted and had an appointment with a program of that nonprofit, the WicKloset, where the client ultimately received six large bags of clothes and household goods for her family.

Cook, too, said the platform has helped MetroHealth staff expand its bank of community resources. While there are some agencies that have been familiar to the system for a long time, she said, others are new or new to the team, such as smaller grassroots or neighborhood organizations.

Community-based organizations have access to the platform at no cost, while the model is funded by paying partners, including large hospital systems, governments and philanthropic supporters.

Bharmal stressed that Unite Ohio is ultimately a tool — and she and others recognize that patients still need to be screened for their needs, and some of them will need more navigation support to the resources.

It’s a tool that provides incredibly helpful information, but there’s much more work to be done beyond handing a box of food to a patient who’s struggling with food insecurity.

“These are long-term issues,” she said. “These are nuanced and challenging, but what I would say for us as a health care system is just, it’s exciting to say, ‘Hey, does it make a difference on how people utilize care? Are they coming to the ED less? Are they getting off medications? Is their blood pressure, diabetes better controlled, because maybe they’re able to meet some of their social needs?’”

Lydia Coutré: lcoutre@crain.com, (216) 771-5479, @LydiaCoutre

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Q&A

As his last dining room closes, Friedlander reflects on restaurant industry challenges Brad Friedlander has worked in the restaurant industry since first helping his father — once dubbed the “wiener czar of Cleveland” for how many hot dogs he was slinging at Cleveland Stadium — in the kitchen washing dishes at 12 years old.

A variety of celebrated local chefs have cut their teeth at the slew of restaurants he’s gone on to own and operate in the decades since then.

With the recent shutdown of Cut151 Supper Club in Beachwood, however, which follows the prior closures of Blu, the Restaurant and Rosso Italia, the 72-year-old restaurateur is at a rare point in his career with no eateries left to manage.

His is not a unique position. About 90,000 restaurants have closed their doors for good across the country since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the National Restaurant Association, including more than 3,000 in Ohio. Many continue to struggle today due to high food costs, staffing challenges and shifting consumer behaviors.

Crain’s caught up with Friedlander to talk about his long career in the restaurant industry, the challenges of running an independent high-end restaurant in today’s world and his thoughts on the future.

Here’s what he had to say.

— Jeremy Nobile

(This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.) The last day of business for Cut151 was on Sunday, June 5, right? How are you feeling about it?

You know, it’s hard to describe. It’s been such a rough three years. It’s a little bit of a relief not fighting the fight anymore.

But I’m not going to stop. I’m going to do something else, whether I do it here or somewhere else.  Was it tough opening these new businesses amid the lingering pandemic?

It couldn’t have been a more perfect storm. We opened up Blu and before it was even open a year, we had to close.

And then right before we closed Blu, we opened up Rosso Italia, which is next to where Cut151 was. That was open for maybe two months, and we had to close.

It takes about one-and-a-half to two years to ramp up to get where you want to be. When you open, you have an energy that carries you forward and creates excitement with the restaurant.

But after we opened, the wind was taken out of the sails. It’s like being on the ocean. You’re sailing, and you have a heavy wind. And then all of a sudden there’s no wind. You’re just dead in the water. You’ve been in the restaurant business for most of your life. How did you get involved in this industry in the first place?

My father, Alvin, had restaurants, and he ran concessions at Cleveland Stadium for 40-some years. He was quite a character.

He was once referred to as the “wiener czar of Cleveland” because the stadium sold more hot dogs than almost any stadium in the country. He was the one that told Bertman’s to make stadium mustard. Anyway, I was washing dishes and working in the kitchen at 12 years old. I eventually went to California for photography and film, and then came back to Cleveland and worked for my dad for a while before I decided to open my open my own restaurant in 1979: Lopez in Cleveland Heights. But I’ve opened and ran probably 19 restaurants. Besides being exposed to and working in the industry at a young age, what would you say has inspired your interest in the restaurant business?

I just love food. It’s never been about money for me. It’s been a labor of love for me for 40 years. I mean, the last three or four have been a little bit rough. But, you know, it’s all just changed so much. I can’t even really describe to you that I was never prepared for what has happened.

I was never prepared for how people, like, change the way they eat — they are

Friedlander

more interested in shooting a picture of their food than eating it. Just so much has changed. From chefs to servers, I feel like you’ve indicated before that you think the talent pool isn’t quite what it used to be for your industry. What do you think is going on there?

I think the pandemic made a lot of people change careers. The restaurant industry is a tough industry on you, your family. It’s very demanding. After people stayed home for eight to 10 months, many decided they didn’t want to go back to the industry and moved on to other things. It’s hard to find a chef that can run a kitchen and control food and labor costs. It’s a very involved process, especially with restaurants of our magnitude and size. When you’re running a high-line restaurant, it’s not the same as running a breakfast or lunch place with the same menu all day long. Servers have to know their food. They have to know the wines. You just don’t find professional servers the way you did 10, 15, 30 years ago when it was an honorable profession and people took it seriously. In what other ways has it been even tougher to run a restaurant in a postCOVID world?

Food cost is way up. We couldn’t get takeout containers for a while. Labor is outrageous. We were paying dishwashers $16, $17 an hour, and they still weren’t showing up. Line cooks are getting $25 an hour. It’s funny because I hear about high-end restaurants that have a 20% bottom line. But there are restaurants that are good businesses and not good restaurants. There are good restaurants that are lousy businesses. It can be hard to make the two work together.

Then comes COVID, and you have no idea what’s going to happen. We opened Blu in October, got ready to open Cut151,

and the new variants hit. There were areas in Cleveland where customers were not afraid to go out. But in this more affluent area, people were really careful.

They weren’t going out. And we weren’t really a to-go restaurant. We never had much of a chance to ramp up, and people just didn’t come to us for that. With the variants, we lost all our Christmas parties, and December was a huge month for us where we’d make 20% to 25% of what we’d make in a year. If you kept a restaurant like Moxie going instead of closing that and opening Blu in the same space, do you think that might’ve made any difference for the business?

I think if we hadn’t changed Moxie to Blu, it would be a different scenario because Blu wasn’t established. When all this happened, Moxie had a 25-year history, and I think it might’ve survived because it was established, unlike Rosso or Cut. But I couldn’t even get enough employees to open Blu again. Red was a success because it was tied to Moxie and the synergies there made things go. We didn’t have that with Blu. Nobody ever even knew where it was. If someone came to you asking for advice on opening a restaurant today, what would you tell them?

You know, I met a guy the other night.

A doctor, worth a fortune. He says he wants to be in the restaurant business, and I’m just kind of like, why the hell would you want to do that? I think people have a fascination with the restaurant industry that I can’t describe.

I was brought up in it. But I think other people romanticize things and think the restaurant business is fun and easy. It’s not. It’s fun when things are going well.

But restaurants have the highest fatality rate of any business. It’s also the most demanding. And there are always issues to overcome on a daily basis, from people not showing up for work to equipment breaking to bad food coming in. There are a million variables that can go wrong.

I was never prepared for what happened (with COVID). These challenges are extremely challenging, especially for the independent life. It’s different for companies with big bank accounts. So what’s next for you, then?

Well, I’ve got to figure out what to do.

I could never retire, just wouldn’t be able to. There are some people looking at this restaurant, and I might possibly do something with them. They’re younger and have different ideas. Or, I’ll find a small place somewhere and do something that’s more in line with today’s needs, something that is more to-go oriented. Would any possible future endeavors for you still be in Northeast Ohio?

Or are you looking at opportunities outside the market?

I’m staying here. Northeast Ohio is my home. And this is where my customers are, at least the ones that are still alive.

I’m getting older and my customers are dying off. But anyway. All in all, how are you feeling about the future?

Gen. (Douglas) MacArthur said that there is no security (on this Earth), only opportunity. I’ve always been an optimistic person and, you know, never really stopped. I still believe that, somehow, everything is going to work out.

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PERSONAL VIEW

Overcoming obstacles by shaking up the status quo

RICH WILLIAMS FOR CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

BY STEVEN FROHWERK

EDITORIAL

Remote world D

owntown Cleveland Alliance has done a terrific job creating events that enliven the center city. The latest example: Lunch in the Lane, a series of Thursday popup block parties in different parts of downtown, all with food, games, live music and more. (The next one is this Thursday, June 23, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Huron Road between Euclid Avenue and East 12th.)

Lunch in the Lane and other events planned this summer have more than just fun in mind. DCA is doing what it can to give workers incentives to come back to their downtown offices rather than working from home. The organization’s Recovery Report issued in April showed that weekday foot traffic to eight major office buildings downtown has improved but remains at about half of pre-pandemic levels. That’s a big challenge for a healthy downtown, which relies on a combination of spending by not only residents and local visitors/tourists, but workers who eat and shop before, during and after the work day.

Cleveland’s slow-to-return-to-the-office workforce isn’t unique.

The New York Times, in a June 9 article, said flatly that “optimism about return-to-office plans, across industries and cities, is slowly abating.”

For instance, the Times noted that when consulting firm Gartner asked in early 2021 about the share of their workers who would be back in the office five days a week in the future, executives said 50%; that figure now is down to about 20%, according to a recent Gartner update of the survey. Office occupancy nationwide has plateaued at around 43%, the newspaper reported.

Many early predictions about the long-term implications of the pandemic haven’t panned out. People are going back to bars, restaurants, sporting events, movie theaters, etc. But office work is a different story. Those who were able to work remotely “got attached to the flexibility,” as the Times put it. A recent study from Pew Research found that the oft-predicted “Zoom fatigue” hasn’t materialized in a meaningful way, and that 60% of workers whose jobs can be done at home wanted to work remotely most or all of the time. Other factors, including the cost and limited availability of child care and rising gas prices, are contributing to office workers’ desires to keep

doing their jobs largely or entirely from home.

Two-plus years of working at home during the pandemic showed that a lot of office work doesn’t require the office to be done efficiently. Companies hoping that workers would come to realize they liked the office more than they remembered, or could be enticed by free snacks and drinks, are bumping up against the reality that many people genuinely prefer working at home when possible. (Bonus: They control their own office temperature.)

It’s not our role or intent to advise companies on how they should manage their return-to-office policies. Business owners and managers have to figure that out for themselves, devising strategies suited to their companies’ situations and positions in the market.

On some level, it makes sense that there would be a lot of experimentation. Companies that believe they have a unique office culture that demands work be done largely or entirely in person should stick with that. If that means losing out occasionally on some talent, that’s a new data point to consider in the cost-benefit analysis in the changing equation of how best to structure the workforce.

The implications for cities, though, are significant.

Cleveland’s chief financial officer, Ahmed Abonamah, told Cleveland.com that income tax makes up about 65% of the city’s general fund, and downtown is the biggest employment center. The Ohio Supreme Court has agreed to take a case, Schaad v. Adler, that addresses the question of whether people who worked from home during the pandemic should have paid commuter income taxes while their offices sat empty. The resolution of the case may have implications for tax collections going forward as more workers do their jobs remotely.

More broadly, Cleveland and other cities will have to contend with the likelihood that foot traffic for office work is in permanent decline, and that to keep downtowns hopping, they will have to step up residential development and find other permanent entertainment options to draw people for something other than a game or concert. Cleveland, at 20,000-plus residents and with a building boom in apartments, is heading in the right direction. But there’s a lot of work to do as the nature of work changes.

Executive Editor: Elizabeth McIntyre (emcintyre@crain.com) Managing Editor: Scott Suttell (ssuttell@crain.com) Contact Crain’s: 216-522-1383 Read Crain’s online: crainscleveland.com

What happens when organizations set very high goals and face seemingly insurmountable challenges? Great organizations find a way. In early 2022, Cleveland Sight Center (CSC) was recognized for achieving a lofty goal — securing Medicaid insurance coverage of the white cane — making Ohio the first and only state in the country to provide such coverage. The story of Frohwerk is how the nonprofit reached its goal director of and earned a prestigious industry ac- marketing and creditation showcases an approach communications any organization can leverage to tri- for Cleveland umph over adversity.

Sight Center.

When Larry Benders joined Cleveland Sight Center as president and chief executive officer seven years ago, one of his first initiatives was to tackle a fundamental problem for vision rehabilitation facilities nationwide: the lack of insurance coverage. He and his team set out to “fix Ohio,” petitioning the General Assembly to cover vision rehabilitation expenses under Medicaid. Years of discussions with legislators ensued.

Realizing it would be impactful to have someone with a vision challenge in the room, he asked former CSC client and current CSC manager of strategic partnerships Alicia Howerton to join the crusade. Her story resonated with legislators, and they agreed the lack of coverage was a problem, but they said it would be very expensive to change, and conversations always stalled there.

It was on a drive to yet another legislative meeting that Larry and Alicia had an epiphany. In frustration, Larry commented, “Even the white cane isn’t covered by insurance!” — to which Alicia replied, “Yes, I know. I have been buying them for 20 years. Why aren’t they?”

Simply asking “why?” brought the status quo into stark relief. When the white cane came into being in 1933, regulations classified white canes as a means of identification, essentially for the benefit of those who were sighted. Alicia, however, vehemently disagreed with this definition. “My cane is not for identification — it’s my freedom and my independence. I cannot even cross the street without it unless I’m with a sighted person.” Her cane is a tool crucial to her mobility, safety and independence.

Once Larry and Alicia realized that coverage for the white cane might be something legislators would more readily support, they crafted an analogy to help legislators better understand the inequities in insurance coverage. Imagine this: If you and a friend are in a car accident, and the friend breaks a leg and you lose your sight, you both will have your hospital treatment covered by insurance. When your friend is discharged, he or she will be referred to physical therapy for help learning to walk again, which is covered by insurance. You, however, who can no longer see, have no options for rehabilitation covered by insurance. You need to be taught how to read, dress, cook, work and simply navigate your life — but there is no insurance coverage.

This narrative got the attention of legislators. In fairly short order, the white cane was added to Ohio’s Medicaid Rule 5160-10-30 — a rule that had previously only included coverage of “durable medical equipment” such as canes, crutches or walkers, but excluded the white cane.

Write us: Crain’s welcomes responses from readers. Letters should be as brief as possible and may be edited. Send letters to Crain’s Cleveland Business, 700 West St. Clair Ave., Suite 310, Cleveland, OH 44113, or by emailing ClevEdit@crain.com. Please include your complete name and city from which you are writing, and a telephone number for fact-checking purposes.

See OBSTACLES, on Page 7

Sound off: Send a Personal View for the opinion page to emcintyre@crain.com. Please include a telephone number for verification purposes.

6 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JUNE 20, 2022

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OPINION

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Breakthrough year in the war on cancer

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“A Cancer Trial’s Unexpected Result: Remission in Every Patient” The Sunday, June 5, New York Times headline read like the kind of hyperbole typically reserved for carnival barkers or late-night shopping channel hosts.

But given the stature of the publication — and my role as acting director of the Case Comprehensive Dr. Stan Gerson Cancer Center — I had to stop and is acting director click. of the Case The story centered on a drug trial Comprehensive involving 18 people with rectal can- Cancer Center, cer — all of whom expected they dean of Case would soon be back to typical treat- Western Reserve ments.

University’s Instead, they learned that the tu- medical school, mors were completely gone. And and its senior they had a genetic defect defined in vice president part by our cancer center investiga- for medical tors more than a decade ago. affairs.

While the scale of the study is small, the stunning results still offer a huge helping of hope. More, it was far from the only extraordinary outcome from the recent annual gathering of the nation’s cancer researchers and physicians. As much as we are all trained early to limit expectations, this time the evidence is overwhelming: 2022 is a breakthrough year in our battle against cancer.

The official “War on Cancer” began a half century ago, when Congress passed ambitious legislation that, among other measures, created collaborative research and treatment hubs like ours here in Cleveland. Today, our top-ranked National Cancer Institute-recognized center at Case Western Reserve University includes Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals and supports the lives of patients in more than 15,000 new cancer cases each year in Northeast Ohio.

We count more than 400 investigators among our members, including one involved in another study presented last weekend; its results prompted hundreds to rise for a sustained standing ovation. Halle C.F. Moore is a graduate of our medical school who serves as director of breast medical oncology at Cleveland Clinic. She is one of more than three dozen authors at sites around the world who examined the effectiveness of a drug that targets a protein responsible for breast tumor growth.

This study, which involved more than 550 patients, saw a 50% reduction in the proportion of patients who suffered disease progression or death. More, researchers believe that the approach could have promise for other kinds of cancer as well.

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden announced a “reignition” of the Cancer Moonshot that he first launched as vice president in 2016. I had the honor of

* “Army Core Wetland Approval on Both Sites”

OBSTACLES

From Page 6

For the visually impaired, like Alicia, this Medicaid coverage of the white cane is more than fiscal — it’s validation. “There is a huge stigma for people who are blind or visually impaired, and confidence plays a big part in being able to accept your vision loss,” says Alicia. “Blind doesn’t define me — it’s just a part of who I am. My cane is a very important tool to be able to navigate life, to be independent and to have my freedom.”

Years of advocacy resulting in a significant victory for the visually impaired is an uplifting story. But there’s even more to be learned here; namely, specific ways in which organizations can disrupt standard thinking to approach goals from a new angle.

“When you have a culture where people can say, ‘I don’t think so’ or ‘have you considered this?’ or even just ‘why?,’ anything is possible,” says Larry. “You need to test preset determinations for what is and what is not, for what you know is versus what should be. When you test conventional wisdom, you test inertia. If you’re will-

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President Joe Biden discusses the ARPA-H research agency in Washington on March 18. ARPA-H is a health research agency that will accelerate progress on curing cancer and other diseases. | KEN CEDENO/BLOOMBERG

being part of his Advisory Team and attending the original announcement, which led to Congress’ approval of $1.8 billion in research investments over seven years.

Since that time, our comprehensive cancer center has achieved significant progress in areas ranging from personalized radiation therapy, applications of artificial intelligence to diagnosis and treatment, and community engagement to help address disparities in outcomes.

We also saw Lucid Diagnostics, a startup based on cancer research at our medical school and University Hospitals, lead to a $70 million IPO this summer. Plus, there’s Picture Health, a startup involving medical imaging AI, that launched last month.

With half the year yet to go, I cannot wait to see what other triumphs our colleagues here and across the country are able to report. We’ll be welcoming many of them next month for our annual Stem Cell Cancer Conference, and biking with them and other volunteers in September for the annual VeloSano bike for the cure.

Just as the two studies announced earlier this month involved dozens of scientists, physicians and staff across multiple institutions, the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center’s ability to draw on our collective strengths accelerates progress in ways none of us could achieve alone. We thank all of you in Northeast Ohio who have placed your trust in us for treatment and discovery — and commit to continuing to collaborate until this battle is won. ing to test it, you open yourself to change, and amazing things can happen.”

Thanks to the perseverance and adaptability of the CSC team, there are tens of thousands of people in the state of Ohio who have been validated by this seemingly small yet very significant change. CARF, the international accreditation agency with 60,000 programs under review, took notice and recognized CSC for demonstrating exemplary conformance to its accreditation standards as a result of their advocacy efforts — a recognition only given to 2%-3% of recipients. CARF recognizes this advocacy achievement as a model for other states and agencies in the nation.

Einstein is often quoted as saying, “The definition of insanity is doing something over and over again and expecting a different result.” If the same approach isn’t giving your organization the results you want, it may be time to pivot, change your narrative and find new ways to reach those formidable goals. Take inspiration from CSC’s blind and visually impaired clients who are no strangers to formidable, yet eminently achievable, goals. With training, support and tools like the white cane, they can do anything a sighted person can do.

LEE & ASSOCIATES C O M M E R C I A L R E A L ESTATE S E R V I C E S

LEE CLEVELAND

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DOWNTOWN AN APARTMENT HOTBED The pace of construction also will remain busy in the Tremont, Ohio City and Detroit-Shoreway neighborhoods.

PAGE 11

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REAL ESTATE

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Phyllis Bambeck stands outside her home in the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood of Cleveland. Bambeck, 82, has lived in her home since 1971. | GUS CHAN FOR CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

PROPERTY-TAX SQUEEZE Longtime homeowners and policy researchers are pushing for relief

BY MICHELLE JARBOE

Phyllis Bambeck’s property taxes have quadrupled over the last decade.

But her three-bedroom house, on Cleveland’s West Side, hasn’t changed much. There’s still no air conditioning. She hasn’t updated the bathroom or kitchen. The garage is a makeshift chicken coop, next to the garden wilderness of her backyard.

An 82-year-old retired teacher, Bambeck survives on Social Security and a small pension.

She’s challenging her property valuation, which Cuyahoga County set at $107,900 for the 2021 tax year.

She won a partial reduction in a similar fight a few years ago — and is bracing for more battles as devel-

opment transforms the neighborhood where she’s lived for 50 years.

“It’s irritating as all heck, because I feel like I’m supporting somebody in a $500,000 condo,” Bambeck said of watching her tax bills climb while new housing, much of it temporarily tax-exempt, rises in the DetroitShoreway area.

“As old-timers, we don’t count for anything. And I’ve seen it time and time and time again.”

Steep house-price growth, coupled with new construction and local tax levies, is putting pressure on elderly homeowners like Bambeck.

Now policy researchers and housing advocates are pushing for relief, in a state where residents aged 60 and older are expected to surpass 26% of the population by 2030.

There’s no solid, statewide data

“IT’S IRRITATING AS ALL HECK, BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE I’M SUPPORTING SOMEBODY IN A $500,000 CONDO.” — Phyllis Bambeck, 82, whose property taxes have skyrocketed

on how escalating property taxes are impacting seniors. But the issue is not isolated to hot pockets of Cleveland and other major cities.

County auditors are watching real estate values creep up in rural areas, as subdivisions sprawl outward, and in poor urban neighborhoods, where investors are flipping houses or converting them into rentals.

“We’re going to be seeing this all across Ohio very soon. No community will be spared,” said Edward Stockhausen, senior vice president of advocacy and external relations for Cleveland Neighborhood Prog-

ress, a nonprofit group that is leading discussions about potential measures to curb tax increases for longtime homeowners at risk of being displaced.

Northeast Ohio homebuilders also are joining the chorus, in the wake of heated debate over recent changes to the city of Cleveland’s residential tax-abatement program.

They see tax relief, whether it’s for seniors living on fixed incomes or a broader group of low-income owners, as one way to reduce community resistance to development during a severe housing crunch.

“I can’t stress this enough,” said Andrew Gotlieb, business development director for Keystate Homes and a trustee for the Home Builders Association of Greater Cleveland. “I never want to see somebody get punished because I’m building in their neighborhood.”

'You can't steamroll the older people' Political pressure to blunt tax growth tends to rise when real estate values are climbing.

Near the end of the last housing boom, in 2006 and 2007, legislators across the country introduced bills to expand relief, according to research from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, a think tank based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

8 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JUNE 20, 2022

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Th Gre met rece poli aisle own forc In quir bly. year hom stan seni R first hom ann $500 part Th chan its e ried cap $34, S tie t tion wan tax old.

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FOCUS | REAL ESTATE Homestead exemptions in Ohio Ohio has offered a partial property-tax break to elderly homeowners since 1971. For years, the exemption was available only to low-income seniors and disabled individuals. The state eliminated that income limit in 2007, then reimposed a cap in 2014 (with a grandfather provision that allowed existing recipients to continue receiving the tax break). The exemption currently applies to the first $25,000 in a home’s market value for owners who are at least 65 years old; permanently disabled; or certain surviving spouses.

Total number of homestead exemptions 800K 600K 400K 200K 0

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

2015

Quality Service You Can Trust

Average reduction in taxes $500 $400 $300

Mark Wengerd, Owner Cell: 440-321-9434 Office: 440-313-5799

$200 $100 0

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

2015

Windsor Metal Roofing is a standing seam metal roofing company recognized for our expertise and unparalleled attention to detail. A standing seam roof has the ability to transform the look of your home and is able to withstand the harsh weather conditions typical of the Northeast region. Our track record of high-quality projects has built us a reputation for being the best in the business.

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RESIDENTIAL | COMMERCIAL | INDUSTRIAL

Statewide reduction in taxes

PRIVATE SCHOOL PLANNER

$400M $350M $300M $250M $200M $150M $100M $50M 0

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

2015

Note: Statistics are not available yet for the 2020 and 2021 tax years. Dollar values are not adjusted for inflation.

SOURCE: OHIO DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION; CRAIN’S RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS GRAPHIC

The topic lost urgency during the Great Recession, as prices plummeted. But the housing market’s recent record run once again has policymakers on both sides of the aisle talking about ways to protect owners like Bambeck from being forced out.

In Ohio, such an effort would require action by the General Assembly. Several bills introduced last year seek to augment the state’s homestead exemption, a longstanding tax break for low-income seniors and disabled individuals.

Recipients don’t pay taxes on the first $25,000 in market value of their homes. Today, that translates to an annual average savings of just over $500, according to the Ohio Department of Taxation.

The $25,000 figure has not changed in years. And for most of its existence, the program has carried an income limit. The current cap is an adjusted gross income of $34,200.

Some lawmakers are seeking to tie the exemption amount to inflation, to reflect rising costs. Others want to boost both the size of the tax break and the income threshold. Those proposals call for the

state to reimburse school districts and other local taxing authorities for lost revenue — the same way the homestead program works today.

“I think we could do a lot more with our homestead program in Ohio,” said Matt Nolan, the Warren County auditor and the head of a tax- and valuation-focused committee for the County Auditors’ Association of Ohio. “I think it’s one of the worst homestead programs in the country.”

From 2007 to 2013, the state eliminated the income limit, opening up the tax break to all homeowners starting at age 65. Officials imposed a new cap in 2014 but allowed anyone who had been claiming the exemption to continue receiving it, regardless of income.

Participation has been falling ever since, despite the state’s swiftly aging population.

A more robust homestead program could serve as both a retention and an attraction tool, said Doug Beach, CEO of the Western Reserve Area Agency on Aging, which is based in Cleveland and serves five Northeast Ohio

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See RELIEF on Page 18 JUNE 20, 2022 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 9

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FOCUS | REAL ESTATE

Combining brokerage, nonprofit work lets Realtor change ‘one life a time’

BY DOUGLAS J. GUTH

Enter the Angels

Asa Cox made her first home purchase in the early 1980s as a teenager.

Though too young to have her name on the title — Cox’s husband handled that side of the transaction — the Realtor on-site praised her maturity and suggested real estate as a possible future profession.

Cox has parlayed that compliment into a lucrative career, building up a brokerage that integrates nonprofit work into its business model. As a real estate enterprise, Century 21 Asa Cox Homes helps would-be homeowners find their dream property in Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula counties.

With a motto of “There’s No Place Like Your Own Home,” Cox’s 28 Realtors work with $12,000 trailers up to sprawling $1 million estates. Asa Cox Homes has completed over 3,500 transactions since 2017; so far in 2022, the company has 378 pending or completed sales.

Cox, who began her career at age 24, launched the business 13 years ago, before purchasing franchise rights to the Century 21 name in 2016. Just as crucial to the company’s development is Asa’s Angels, a charitable organization offering seasonal programming to struggling families as well as day-to-day assistance for individuals in crisis.

During Easter this year, Asa’s Angels supplied children in need with Easter baskets containing candy and small gifts. A few months prior, the nonprofit Cox delivered 15,000 Christmas gifts to kids who otherwise might have received no presents at all.

Cox understands this pain all too well: The Painesville native grew up poor, raised by a single mother who lost her husband six months into her pregnancy. Christmas gifts often came

from garage sales, a circumstance Cox never wants replicated for the Northeast Ohio families aided by the charity.

“I didn’t have new items under the tree — I knew about waking up on Christmas and not getting what I wanted, so I decided I wanted to help people,” said Cox, who operates both the brokerage and charity from a shared space in Perry Township.

Bringing warmth to the holidays is only one facet of the organization, noted Cox. Alongside its holiday-based helping hand, Asa’s Angels assists residents beset by hardship, whether left without a home after a fire or transitioning into an apartment following a period of homelessness. In these cases, the charity provides invaluable items such as beds, clothes, appliances and dishes. Last year, Asa’s Angels gave away about 337 beds, many procured through Cox’s realty work.

THANK

Asa’s Angels, the nonprofit founded by Realtor Asa Cox, delivered 15,000 Christmas gifts to kids who otherwise might have received no presents at all. | CONTRIBUTED

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“The biggest thing that sets us apart as a nonprofit is if someone lists a house in an estate sale, as a 501(c)3 we can give them the tax donation,” Cox said. “We get the listing while we’re helping people clean out a house. Families are very busy when a parent dies, so it’s hard for them to clean out the whole house. They love knowing those items are going to a family in need.”

feet.”

Full-time volunteers — including outreach coordinator Jessica Nahm — assist Cox in operating the charity.

Nahm, coming from a career in restaurant management, joined Asa’s Angels last year in the run-up to its Christmas drive.

The nonprofit is now part of an ecosystem where a Facebook request for a lawnmower is rapidly answered by a local Good Samaritan. Having the charity on the same site as the ‘A hard time catching up’ for-profit business only furthers that The nonprofit interviews a parent community connection, remarked or guardian during the holiday sea- Nahm.

“People come in and can see Asa’s son to determine whether a child qualifies for assistance. While in- face, and take a tour of the business to understand how many people we “ANYONE SHE COMES INTO CONTACT help,” said Nahm.

WITH, SHE FINDS A WAY TO HELP THEM. “Now that I’m part of Asa’s team, I see JUST BEING AROUND HER MAKES ME first-hand how much WANT TO BE A BETTER PERSON, EVEN she cares. Anyone she comes into conIF THAT SOUNDS CHEESY.” tact with, she finds a — Jessica Nahm, outreach coordinator at Asa’s Angels way to help them.

Just being around come factors into the equation, the her makes me want to be a better charity also weighs the cost of a per- person, even if that sounds cheesy.”

Nahm recalls an initial meet where sonal hardship — such as a catastrophic house fire — in verifying Cox’s cellphone never stopped ringneed. Candidates are screened for ing. “Work ethic” is a pale descripany other assistance they receive to tion of the round-the-clock effort her avoid duplication of services. boss and friend puts into the organiA handful of community partner- zation, she said. ships support the altruistic side of the “The thing that impresses me the business. Ohio Furniture Warehouse most is how calm Asa is through it in Mentor, for example, gives beds to all,” Nahm said. “She’ll just come up Asa’s Angels either at cost or through with a solution to a problem without donations. Radio and television ads ever raising her voice.”

— bolstered by billboards scattered Coming from a family that lived at through the city — spread the word the poverty line — Cox’s mother made for communities still reeling from $25 a day cleaning houses — provides pandemic aftereffects. needed perspective on the multiple “People out of work from COVID crises today’s impoverished face daily. have had a hard time catching up,” “My slogan is changing one life at a said Cox. “They might have their util- time,” Cox said. “My career has given ities shut off, or broken-down cars. me an opportunity to do that.”

We had one lady with half the electrical out in her house. Our model is Contact Douglas J. Guth: about getting people back on their clbfreelancer@crain.com

10 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JUNE 20, 2022

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FOCUS | REAL ESTATE

Cleveland's building boom in apartments carries on

BY STAN BULLARD

The incredible Cleveland apartment machine continues spitting out new projects changing the city's skyline and parts of some of its neighborhoods at a prodigious pace.

Although climbing construction costs, the specter of rising interest rates and a future clampdown on Cleveland tax abatement policies may slow future harvests, the present crop of multifamily is faring well despite its huge size, at least in terms of Cleveland residential development.

Thanks to a combination of demographics and a past dearth of largescale apartment development, vacancy is relatively in check and rents continue rising.

New projects are leasing well, landlords report.

At 75 Public Square, the conversion of a 1915-vintage office building to 114 apartments by the Millennia Cos. is 25% leased despite opening in the winter, according to Kevin Davey, vice president of operations.

“It’s going really well,” Davey said, and he expects occupancy to hit 95% by year-end 2022, which will mean the new building is stabilized.

At 55 Public Square, the latest K&D Group of Willoughby project in downtown Cleveland, CEO Doug Price said the first move-ins will be in October, but “we have really good traffic for it on our (leasing website).

Overall downtown, we are stronger in terms of occupancy than we have ever been. Occupancy is 98% downtown and in the (regional) portfolio.”

In terms of downtown, more apartment buildings currently under construction won’t open until next year. Even with five more downtown projects gestating, the pause will give the market a much-needed breather.

However, the pace will remain busy in Tremont, Ohio City and the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhoods.

A go-go market For example, the high-profile 11-floor Intro project across from the West Side Market opened in April and is 60% occupied. Moreover, 90% of the structure’s suites are already spoken for, according to Dan Whalen, vice president at Harbor Bay Real Estate Advisors, the Chicago developer of the much-vaunted mass timber building.

“Extremely pleased with this, obviously,” Whalen wrote in an email.

Meantime, at the Lincoln, an 82unit building that opened in May at the corner of Scranton Road and Willey Avenue in Tremont, 78 of the units are leased.

Josh Rosen, a co-founder of Sustainable Community Associates of Cleveland, said the building’s performance is likely due to several factors, from the design of its projects, its community focus as a business and the market.

Meantime, gathering in the wings are additional buildings on Abbey Avenue, Columbus Road, the West 25th Street Bridge south of Columbus Road, and Superior Viaduct near West 25th and Detroit Avenue. Still more are in the works in the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood.

Insiders say the benefit of the gogo market is that so far, rents have increased faster than inflation, but the concern is that construction costs

are rising still faster, at a clip of 20% annually, which may slow the pace on future projects.

Michael Panzica, owner of M. Panzica Development of Cleveland, said producing the next wave of apartment projects means dealing with the rise of interest rates and construction costs.

“It’s certainly a challenge,” said Panzica, one of three principals in the proposed 15-story Bridgeworks development at West 25th Street and Detroit Avenue near the Detroit-Superior Bridge in Ohio City. “But there is some offset: Demand continues to remain strong for apartments that are well-located and well-amenitized.”

Panzica’s most recently completed project is 51 suites at the Baricelli Little Italy apartments in the East Side neighborhood.

A moving van sits outside the recently opened 75 Public Square apartments in downtown Cleveland. The historic preservation project transformed an underoccupied office building into housing. | MICHELLE JARBOE/CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

“Only a couple units remain available,” Panzica said. “The market remains robust, and we’ve waitlisted some of our units” in the city.

Keep on building

Top: Expansive windows brighten the bedroom at a model apartment at 75 Public Square in downtown Cleveland. Above: A bathroom at 75 Public Square. The recently opened project includes 114 units, ground-floor retail spaces as well as a rooftop deck. | THE MILLENNIA COS

However, the market in the city of Cleveland proper is the weakest in the region thanks to all the building action, according to data from Yardi Matrix, the well-known real estate data concern. But it’s all relative, as multifamily developers in Cleveland’s central city benefit from decades with little construction. The city proper also missed most of the 1960s-era multifamily boom that transformed suburban lakefronts in Euclid and Lakewood with high-rise buildings.

Even with apartments rising at what seems a breakneck pace for Northeast Ohio, Yardi Matrix reports construction at less than 4% of total inventory downtown and below 2% of the region’s inventory. So, the amount of development in the region remains extremely low compared with most of the country.

That’s why the mantra for Michael Deemer, president and CEO of the Downtown Cleveland Alliance, remains to keep building residentially downtown.

See APARTMENTS on Page 18 JUNE 20, 2022 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 11

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CRAIN'S LIST | HIGHEST-PAID NON-CEOS Ranked by 2021 total compensation EXECUTIVE TENURE IN LISTED POSITION

2021 TOTAL COMPENSATION/ 1-YEAR CHANGE

SALARY/ BONUS

STOCK AWARDS/ OPTION AWARDS

NON-EQUITY INCENTIVES/ PENSION VALUE CHANGE OTHER

2021 COMPANY NET INCOME (MILLIONS)/ 1-YEAR CHANGE

1

W. NICHOLAS HOWLEY/TransDigm Group Inc. chairman (August 2021 - present) 1

$40,259,111 -40.9%

$6,306 —

— $38,084,417

— —

$2,168,388

$680.0 -2.72

2

QUINN J. COBURN/GrafTech International Ltd. former CFO and senior VP (May 2015 - November 2021) 2

$26,799,310 3 2,970.0%

$421,325 $96,750

$436,240 $246,966

$249,938 —

$25,348,091 3

$388.3 -10.6

3

JORGE L. VALLADARES III/TransDigm Group Inc. COO (April 2019 - present)

$15,457,929 12.5%

$672,500 $86,659

— $10,973,092

$577,728 —

$3,147,950

$680.0 -2.72

4

MICHAEL J. LISMAN/TransDigm Group Inc. CFO (July 2018 - present)

$13,706,398 293.8%

$583,750 $101,952

— $10,860,161

$509,760 —

$1,650,775

$680.0 -2.72

5

THOMAS B. OKRAY/Eaton executive VP, CFO (April 2002 - present)

$11,196,003 —

$787,500 $2,394,285

$5,497,357 $969,004

$1,031,250 —

$516,607

$2,144.0 52.06

6

ROBERT S. HENDERSON/TransDigm Group Inc. former vice chairman (January 2017 - December 2021)

$9,042,567 -33.6%

$10,000 $3,920

— $4,919,634

$361,080 —

$3,747,933

$680.0 -2.72

7

LEE C. BANKS/Parker Hannifin Corp. vice chairman, president (August 2021 - present) 4

$8,185,121 -20.5%

$971,250 —

$2,213,292 $1,931,105

$1,792,662 $1,051,869

$224,943

$1,746.1 45.27

8

DARREN R. WELLS/Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. executive VP, CFO (September 2018 - present; October 2008-December 2013)

$7,600,416 81.6%

$800,000 $0

$3,408,666 $0

$2,857,250 $412,158

$122,342

$764.0

9

CHRISTOPHER R. DELANEY/Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. president - Europe, Middle East and Africa (September 2017 - present)

$6,997,502 79.1%

$750,000 $0

$3,112,012 $0

$2,578,800 $532,135

$24,555

$764.0

10

STEPHEN R. MCCLELLAN/Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. president, Americas (January 2016 - present)

$6,934,620 17.0%

$750,000 $0

$3,112,012 $0

$2,668,050 $309,082

$95,476

$764.0

11

JEFFREY L. RUTHERFORD/Diebold Nixdorf Inc. executive VP, CFO (January 2019 - present)

$6,900,404 290.2%

$615,000 —

$5,380,906 —

$873,870 —

$30,628

($78.8)

12

CLIFFORD T. SMITH/Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. executive VP; president, Cleveland-Cliffs Steel (September 2021 - present) 5

$6,116,476 41.2%

$765,000 $918,000

$1,741,806 —

$2,521,100 $85,700

$84,870

$2,988.0

13

DONALD R. KIMBLE JR./KeyCorp CFO, chief administrative officer, vice chair (June 2013 - present)

$6,020,267 11.1%

$800,000 —

$2,569,968 $229,999

$2,400,000 —

$20,300

$2,625.0 95.46

14

UDAY YADAV/Eaton former president and COO, Electrical Sector (July 2019 - April 2022)

$5,900,955 17.4%

$796,830 —

$2,202,163 $643,284

$1,000,896 $1,085,954

$171,828

$2,144.0 52.06

15

RYAN G. PATTERSON/Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. senior VP; Americas chief operating and integrations officer (October 2021 - present) 6

$5,439,620 64.0%

$641,667 $0

$2,574,088 $0

$1,744,630 $433,239

$45,996

$764.0

16

ANDREW J. PAINE III/KeyCorp executive VP; president, Key Institutional Bank (January 2019 - present)

$5,232,446 19.2%

$600,000 —

$2,159,963 $239,997

$2,200,000 $12,186

$20,300

$2,625.0 95.46

17

TODD M. LEOMBRUNO/Parker Hannifin Corp. executive VP, CFO (January 2021 - present)

$4,971,411 —

$510,725 —

$2,968,166 $201,042

$701,647 $376,387

$213,444

$1,746.1 45.27

18

DAWN PHILLIPSON/Arhaus Inc. CFO (February 2019 - present)

$4,969,506 610.0%

$396,678 $1,813,237

$2,262,500 —

$476,014 —

$21,077

$21.1 247.2

19

HYUN PARK/FirstEnergy Corp. senior VP, chief legal officer (January 2021 - present)

$4,738,309 —

$635,714 —

$2,459,075 —

$704,676 $42,875

$895,969

$1,283.0 18.91

20

ALLEN J. MISTYSYN/The Sherwin-Williams Co. senior VP, finance; CFO (January 2017 - present)

$4,714,222 3.4%

$786,562 —

$1,500,702 $1,113,760

$1,062,000 —

$251,198

$1,864.4 -8.18

21

JOHN P. SAUERLAND/Progressive Corp.

VP, CFO (April 2015 - present)

$4,679,143 -4.4%

$650,000 —

$2,437,643 —

$1,579,500 —

$12,000

$3,350.9 -41.26

22

K. JON TAYLOR/FirstEnergy Corp. senior VP, CFO and strategy (May 2020 - present) 7

$4,542,843 129.2%

$686,209 $750,000

$1,962,017 —

$915,874 $216,628

$12,115

$1,283.0 18.91

23

ERIC LAURENSSE/Ranpak Holdings Corp. managing director of Europe (June 2019 - present)

$4,526,375 357.8%

$299,029 —

$3,903,709 —

$276,879 —

$46,758

($2.8)

24

SARAH L. WYNNE/TransDigm Group Inc. chief accounting officer (November 2018 - present)

$4,419,819 92.8%

$437,500 $14,365

— $3,387,919

$310,635 —

$269,400

$680.0 -2.72

25

JOHN W. SOMERHALDER II/FirstEnergy Corp. chairman (May 2022 - present) 8

$4,416,668 —

$632,555 —

$2,717,970 —

$1,006,534 $42,404

$17,205

$1,283.0 18.91

26

TIM V. FISHER/Cedar Fair LP COO (December 2017 - present)

$4,399,426 366.2%

$600,000 —

$2,369,476 —

$1,421,250 —

$8,700

($48.5)

27

JANE RITSON-PARSONS/Lordstown Motors Corp. executive VP, chief commercial officer (November 2021 - present) 9

$4,296,177 —

$200,000 $100,000

$3,993,500 —

— —

$2,677

($410.4)

28

JOHN P. BRASE/The J.M. Smucker Co. COO (April 2020 - present)

$4,268,965 2.8%

$700,000 $10,060

$1,575,050 $525,000

$1,330,000 —

$128,855

$876.3 12.42

29

RICHARD H. FEARON/Eaton former vice chairman; former chief financial and planning officer (April 2002 - March 2021)

$4,256,496 -19.3%

$175,985 —

$2,753,030 $803,784

$313,731 —

$134,966

$2,144.0 52.06

30

KEITH A. KOCI/Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. executive VP; president, Cleveland-Cliffs Services (September 2021 - present) 10

$4,192,839 88.4%

$590,667 $780,000

$1,021,860 —

$1,645,636 $119,700

$34,976

$2,988.0

RANK

Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence (spglobal/marketintelligence/en); additional research by Chuck Soder (csoder@crain.com) | This list includes public company executives whose 2021 compensation was reported

in public filings. Net income is income attributable to ordinary shareholders. Pension value change column also includes nonqualified deferred compensation. NOTES: 1. Howley previously served as executive chairman. 2. Coburn remained a senior vice president through May 12, 2022. 3. Coburn received a $25.3 million payment through GrafTech's Long-Term Incentive Plan. The payment was triggered in May 2021 when former GrafTech parent Brookfield Asset Management sold a significant portion of its GrafTech stock. 4. Banks previously served as president and COO. 5. Smith previously served as executive vice president and COO. 6. Patterson previously served as senior vice president of business integration. 7. Prior to Aug. 1, 2021 Taylor's title was senior vice president and CFO. 8. Somerhalder joined FirstEnergy in March 2021 as vice chairman and executive director. 9. Ritson-Parsons also served as chief operating officer and interim chief brand officer during 2021. 10. Koci previously served as executive vice president and CFO.

Get 180 executives and more data in Excel format. Become a Data Member: CrainsCleveland.com/data 12 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JUNE 20, 2022

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CRAIN'S LIST | HIGHEST-PAID FEMALE EXECUTIVES Ranked by 2021 total compensation 2021 COMPANY NET INCOME (MILLIONS)/ 1-YEAR CHANGE

EXECUTIVE TITLE AND TENURE IN POSITION

2021 TOTAL COMPENSATION/ 1-YEAR CHANGE

SALARY/ BONUS

STOCK AWARDS/ OPTION AWARDS

NON-EQUITY INCENTIVES/ PENSION VALUE CHANGE

1

S. TRICIA GRIFFITH/Progressive Corp. president, CEO (July 2016 - present)

$14,462,961 -5.0%

$950,000 —

$9,500,212 —

$3,847,502 —

$165,247

$3,350.9 -41.26%

2

DAWN PHILLIPSON/Arhaus Inc. CFO (February 2019 - present)

$4,969,506 610.0%

$396,678 $1,813,237

$2,262,500 —

$476,014 —

$21,077

$21.1 247.2%

3

SARAH L. WYNNE/TransDigm Group Inc. chief accounting officer (November 2018 - present)

$4,419,819 92.8%

$437,500 $14,365

— $3,387,919

$310,635 —

$269,400

$680.0 -2.72%

4

JANE RITSON-PARSONS/Lordstown Motors Corp. executive VP, chief commercial officer (November 2021 - present) 1

$4,296,177 —

$200,000 $100,000

$3,993,500 —

— —

$2,677

($410.4) —

5

CATHERINE A. SUEVER/Parker Hannifin Corp. former executive VP of finance and administration, CFO (April 2017 - December 2020)

$4,058,991 -51.4%

$350,000 —

$0 $1,206,803

$573,187 $1,825,904

$103,097

$1,746.1 45.27%

6

ANGELA G. MAGO/KeyCorp president, Key Commercial Bank and Real Estate Capital (May 2019 - present)

$4,028,515 19.1%

$600,000 —

$1,349,985 $149,998

$1,900,000 $8,232

$20,300

$2,625.0 95.46%

7

AMY G. BRADY/KeyCorp chief information officer, executive VP (March 2012 - present)

$3,670,283 -12.6%

$700,000 —

$1,349,985 $149,998

$1,450,000 —

$20,300

$2,625.0 95.46%

8

MARY L. GARCEAU/The Sherwin-Williams Co. senior VP, general counsel, secretary (August 2017 - present)

$3,322,795 2.5%

$655,767 —

$964,737 $730,905

$787,000 —

$184,386

$1,864.4 -8.18%

9

HEIDI G. PETZ/The Sherwin-Williams Co. president, COO (March 2022 - present) 2

$3,271,170 —

$559,618 —

$976,542 $814,437

$761,000 —

$159,573

$1,864.4 -8.18%

10

REMI KENT/Progressive Corp. chief marketing officer (November 2021 - present)

$3,012,772 —

$76,923 $300,000

$2,500,080 —

$124,615 —

$11,154

$3,350.9 -41.26%

11

JANEEN B. KASTNER/RPM International Inc. VP of corporate benefits and risk management (October 2007 - present)

$2,738,741 26.1%

$360,750 $0

$1,454,550 $334,400

$463,000 $76,668

$49,373

$502.6 65.13%

12

KELLEY S. FORD/Cedar Fair LP executive VP, chief marketing officer (February 2012 - present)

$2,345,769 267.3%

$402,000 —

$1,173,279 —

$761,790 —

$8,700

($48.5) —

13

JEANNETTE L. KNUDSEN/The J.M. Smucker Co. chief legal and compliance officer, secretary (November 2019 - present)

$2,291,398 24.8%

$519,500 $15,740

$691,253 $230,400

$750,975 —

$83,530

$876.3 12.42%

14

JAMIE A. BEGGS/Avient Corp. senior VP, CFO (August 2020 - present)

$1,896,328 19.6%

$538,846 —

$287,436 $286,286

$735,525 —

$48,235

$230.8 75.38%

15

JENNIFER I. ANSBERRY/Lincoln Electric Holdings executive VP, general counsel, secretary (April 2017 - present)

$1,756,084 17.2%

$424,000 —

$455,938 $231,257

$530,871 —

$114,018

$276.5 34.13%

16

KATHLEEN P. LENEGHAN/Invacare Corp. senior VP, CFO (February 2018 - present)

$1,754,845 -7.0%

$470,000 —

$1,268,983 —

— —

$15,862

($45.6) —

17

LISA K. KUNKLE/Avient Corp. senior VP, general counsel, secretary (August 2007 - present)

$1,696,114 28.2%

$460,385 —

$228,258 $227,871

$746,150 —

$33,450

$230.8 75.38%

18

MEREDITH S. WEIL/TFS Financial Corp.

COO (September 2018 - present)

$1,623,967 -4.5%

$556,756 —

$415,818 —

$536,072 $16,489

$98,832

$81.0 -2.77%

19

SHELLY M. CHADWICK/Materion Corp.

VP of finance, CFO (December 2020 - present)

$1,595,371 45.3%

$425,331 —

$528,232 $119,518

$509,752 —

$12,538

$72.5 368.72%

20

MICHELE R. KUHRT/Lincoln Electric Holdings executive VP, chief human resources officer (February 2019 - present)

$1,544,010 -0.5%

$413,000 —

$314,928 $159,669

$546,773 —

$109,640

$276.5 34.13%

21

CATHY W. ZBANEK/TFS Financial Corp. vice president; chief synergy officer of Third Federal Savings and Loan (2020 - present)

$1,407,277 -3.0%

$470,151 —

$415,818 —

$452,684 $1,477

$70,101

$81.0 -2.77%

22

ANGELA STRAND/Lordstown Motors Corp. chairman (August 2021 - present) 3

$1,400,521 —

$500,000 —

$900,521 —

— —

—

($410.4) —

23

GINA K. GUNNING/GrafTech International Ltd. chief legal officer, corporate secretary (July 2018 - present)

$1,256,311 34.0%

$374,275 $74,100

$378,840 $214,471

$191,425 —

$23,200

$388.3 -10.6%

24

CHRISTA A. VESY/Site Centers Corp. executive VP, chief accounting officer (March 2012 - present)

$1,202,360 77.8%

$393,645 —

$287,371 —

$510,000 —

$11,344

$124.9 249.75%

25

KRISTINE C. SYRVALIN/TimkenSteel Corp. executive VP, general counsel, chief human resources officer (May 2022 - present) 4

$1,044,051 —

$300,000 —

$441,056 $0

$285,000 $0

$17,995

$171.0 —

26

SONAL P. ROBINSON/Myers Industries Inc. executive VP, CFO (April 2021 - July 2022) 5

$1,020,384 —

$401,538 —

$391,490 —

$209,934 $106

$17,316

$33.5 -8.79%

27

ANNA MARIA P. MOTTA/TFS Financial Corp. former vice president; chief information officer of Third Federal Savings and Loan (2014 September 2021)

$921,569 -8.5%

$333,300 —

$186,585 —

$320,917 $38,893

$41,874

$81.0 -2.77%

28

KATHY E. VELTRI/Arhaus Inc. chief retail officer (March 2019 - present)

$828,796 20.6%

$402,950 —

— —

$402,950 —

$22,896

$21.1 247.2%

29

ANDREAN RENEE HORTON/Myers Industries Inc. former executive VP, chief legal officer and secretary (October 2018 - June 2021) 6

$776,306 -26.7%

$228,300 —

$397,802 —

$103,463 $15,039

$31,702

$33.5 -8.79%

30

LISA K. CHRISTEN/Olympic Steel Inc. treasurer, corporate controller (January 2019 - present)

$704,111 228.9%

$250,000 —

— —

$407,801 —

$46,310

$121.1 —

RANK

OTHER

Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence (spglobal/marketintelligence/en); additional research by Chuck Soder (csoder@crain.com) | This list includes public company executives whose 2021 compensation was reported

in public filings. Net income is income attributable to ordinary shareholders. Pension value change column also includes nonqualified deferred compensation. NOTES: 1. Ritson-Parsons also served as chief operating officer and interim chief brand officer during 2021. 2. Petz served as president of The Americas Group from March 2021 to March 2022, and before that she served as senior vice president of sales and marketing. 3. Strand also served as executive chair from June 2021 to August 2021. 4.

Syrvalin added chief human resources officer to her title in May 2022. 5. Robinson is scheduled to step down on July 1, 2022. She also served as executive vice president of finance starting in February 2021. 6. Horton also served as interim president and CEO from October 2019 to April 2020.

14 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JUNE 20, 2022

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LIST ANALYSIS

Women slowly taking more high-paying executive jobs

BY CHUCK SODER

Slowly but steadily, women are taking more of the highest-ranking, highest-paying positions at local public companies.

In 2021, women accounted for 14.9% of all local public company executives who made at least $500,000 and held positions high enough that their employers have to report their compensation in public filings.

Granted, 14.9% equates to just 31 women. But both of those numbers have crept up slightly every year since 2016 and have nearly doubled since then, according to a Crain’s analysis of data collected over the

years for our highest-paid executives lists, which are built with data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Two of those lists were published this week: Highest-Paid Non-CEOs and Highest-Paid Female Executives.

In one important respect, however, women have lost ground since 2016: Northeast Ohio today has only one woman who is CEO of a public company: Tricia Griffith of Progressive Corp. When she took that job in July 2016, the region had three others: Beth Mooney of KeyCorp, Jenniffer Deckard of Fairmount Santrol, which became Covia, and Anne Noonan of Omnova Solutions. But Deckard was fired in May 2019, Om-

nova was acquired by Synthomer of England in October of that year, and Mooney retired in May 2020.

And as you might’ve heard, CEOs make the big bucks. Those few departures are one reason why average total compensation for women making at least $500,000 actually fell from $2.8 million in 2016 to $2.6 million in 2021. A lack of representation in the CEO position also is one reason why women account for just 9.2% of the $866 million made by all executives listed in public filings (aka “named executive officers”) who made at least $500,000 in 2021. That percentage is down from 10.2% last year, when Mooney was still on our High-

est-Paid Female Executives list, but it has increased from 7.2% in 2016.

But national trends suggest women are slowly becoming better represented in lots of high-ranking positions, including the CEO role: In 2020, women accounted for 13.7% of all named executive officers in the Russell 3000 index, up from 8.1% in 2010, according to a study by corporate compensation data provider Equilar.

Women also accounted for 5.4% of CEOs in the Russell 3000 in 2020, up from 2.4% in 2010. They made bigger gains, however, in roles such as chief human resources officer, chief administration officer and general counsel and smaller gains in “line roles that

manage profit and loss” — roles that often are a stepping stone to the CEO job, according to an April 2022 blog post about the study. That disparity makes it unclear whether women “will see similar gains in the C-suite and the positions that most often lead there in the 2020s,” the post stated.

The full Excel versions of our highest-paid lists include more executives (180 in our Highest-Paid Non-CEOs list alone), as well as historical compensation data for many of them. The lists are available to Crain’s Data Members at CrainsCleveland.com/data.

Chuck Soder: csoder@crain.com, (216) 771-5374, @ChuckSoder

AKRON

Richfield company flying high with drone technology

BY DAN SHINGLER

You’re not going crazy — the planes flying around Richfield aren’t shrinking to sizes that seem too small to hold a human being.

That’s just their actual size.

Except, the small flying crafts you might be seeing aren’t passenger planes at all. They might be the latest advancement in drones from local company Event 38 taking flight.

These aren’t like the drones you’re apt to see your neighbor flying, or even like the ones used by real estate agents and others for photography and filmmaking. Those tend to be what are known as multi-rotors, with four propellers aimed straight upward. They fly more like helicopters and pretty much are the standard for consumer drones.

Event 38 works with fixed-wing drones, which look just like small airplanes.

“Everyone was focusing on the multi-rotors, but for some reason I found the planes more interesting,” said Event 38 president and founder Jeff Taylor.

His choice seems like it’s working out well. Event 38 has been able to leverage the advantages of fixedwing aircraft — the biggest being much longer potential flight times than multi-rotor copters can achieve — and his company has grown as its products have become more advanced.

Taylor said he began by “tinkering” with drones. But, given that he holds a degree in aerospace engineering from Case Western Reserve University, his tinkering can be a bit more complex and involve more math than most home hobbyists can muster.

He stumbled into aerial mapping as an application for fixed-wing drones early and luckily, he said.

“I didn’t even know there was a ‘mapping industry,’” Taylor said with a laugh.

In 2011, he started selling basic fixed-wing drones for mapping and aerial photography. His first drones had a wingspan of 6 feet, weighed about 5 pounds and could fly for 60 minutes. He sold the most bareboned model for $600, with the first one going to a vineyard in Chile that wanted to use it to photograph and

monitor its grape crops.

Things quickly took off from there, though, and soon Taylor was getting all the orders he could handle and more. But it wasn’t a good business model, he said — there just wasn’t enough value-add and margin to be had in selling basic drones for $600.

“You can’t really make a business out of that,” Taylor said.

So, he decided to go after a more sophisticated market with more advanced cameras that can take photos with more than just the visual spectrum of light and that can fly better and longer.

Event 38, and its aircraft, have come a long way, Taylor said.

The company’s latest offering, called the E400, is a bit of a hybrid. It has fixed wings, but also has four vertically mounted propellers that enable it to take off with no runway or catapult and to land nearly anywhere, just like a multi-rotor craft.

It has advanced mapping functions, multi- and hyper-spectral camera capabilities, can carry payloads of up to 20 pounds and can fly for 90 minutes at a time.

But it ain’t $600. The E400 costs just under $19,000 — more if a customer orders one with the most advanced features and capabilities.

The new model was tested by the Ohio Air National Guard, thanks to an $850,000 federal grant that Event 38 received in 2019, and the company began commercial sales of the E400 in June, Taylor said.

It’s now the company’s flagship model. Event 38 still has some more basic models, but nothing like the $600 models that Taylor used to build using off-the-shelf parts. The company’s most basic craft, which still is capable of mapping and survey work, costs just under $6,000.

The company, which moved with Taylor from San Diego to Northeast Ohio in 2013, has sold more than 600 drones since Taylor founded it in 2012, with annual revenue now in the millions of dollars, he said.

Shortly after Taylor formed his company, he began looking for a place to permanently locate it.

Friends of his who have a company called Tiny Circuits offered to share space with him at Akron’s Canal Place. Being from Broadview Heights originally, Taylor took them up on

Event 38 president Jeff Taylor gives a demonstration of his company’s latest done, the E400. | DAN SHINGLER/CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

the offer. Event 38 worked from Canal Place until moving to its current location in 2020, he said.

Its largest customer base is surveyors, Taylor said, followed by universities, agricultural users and the mining and forestry industries.

“Our customer is someone who already has two or three multi-rotor drones,” Taylor said. “They say, ‘I keep getting contracts for 800-acre jobs and it takes me all day to do it.’”

To serve its increasingly advanced customers, and possibly one day the U.S. government, Event 38 will need to further step up its game, Taylor figures.

So, the company is phasing out its more basic and inexpensive drones and turning its focus to more advanced technologies to make drones with more capabilities, he said.

It’s already prototyping its next model, the E450. Thanks to some help from Kent State University, this one will be bigger and able to fly longer than even the E400.

Taylor said the E450 will have a wingspan of 14 feet, have a total weight (with payload) of just under 55 pounds, and will be able to fly about six hours without stopping.

That whopping increase in flight time is thanks to Kent State, Taylor said.

Event 38 has been working with Dr. Yanhai Du, a KSU professor and principal investigator of sustainability and the university’s fuel cell and 3D metal printing labs. It’s Du’s hydrogen fuel cells that give the E450 its increased flight time, since they vastly outperform batteries in terms of their power-to-weight ratio, Taylor said.

Du, who works with a variety of fuel cells and not just those powered by hydrogen — there are solid-oxide fuel cells, natural gas-powered fuel cells and others, too — said he’s been happy to work with Event 38.

Drones will likely never be a huge market for hydrogen fuel cells, Du said, but they are a great way to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiencies of fuel cells and might also help companies such as Boeing and other aircraft manufacturers adopt fuel cell technology more quickly, he said.

But for drones, hydrogen could be a big deal.

“In terms of hydrogen itself, drones are only a tiny bit (of the potential market). But for drones, hydrogen might be the biggest tech so far, because of drone flying time,” Du said.

“If you want to fly for just 10 minutes or half an hour, a battery makes sense.

But for four, six or even 12 hours, I

don’t think you’ll have any battery that can produce that flight time.”

Du said Event 38 is using a small amount of battery power, primarily for takeoffs and landings, but that once its craft achieve stable flight, the fuel cell takes over supplying power and also recharges the on-board batteries.

Taylor said he hopes to offer the E450 commercially in six to 12 months. He’s not yet determined what the new drone will cost.

For now, though, the company is focused on making sure the E400 is marketed, sold and supported.

Taylor now has eight employees to help him — it was only him when he moved the company to Ohio.

Event 38 doesn’t disclose its financials, but Taylor said it has long been profitable, largely because it has used its revenues to self-fund its development as it went along.

“We started out with nothing,” Taylor said, “so I had to be profitable instantly.”

It’s also growing quickly. Sales in 2021 grew by 35%, Taylor said.

With the new drone now out, Taylor said he expects to grow even faster this year.

Dan Shingler: dshingler@crain.com, (216) 771-5290

JUNE 20, 2022 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 15

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Spire Institute and Academy hosted the Division III track and field championships in May of this year, an event it also hosted in 2017 and 2019. | SPIRE INSTITUTE AND ACADEMY PHOTOS

TOURISM

From Page 1

Sports Commission (GCSC) and Destination Cleveland. “But there’s that old adage that you can’t build your building for Easter Sunday.

Well, a hotel can’t survive on one mega event once in a while.”

This year’s track championships generated an estimated $2 million in economic impact, the GCSC said, drawing more than 850 student-athletes from across the country as well as hundreds of coaches, family members and spectators.

“It’s definitely one of our highlight events,” said Spire president Jeff Orloff, who compared its size and scope to the annual Big Ten indoor track and field meet in February. “For a lot of athletes, it’s the ultimate (competition) on that level.

“I don’t think any of these kids are going on to Olympic track careers, but to see their passion and excitement about the sport, that’s what makes it really special.”

Spire also hosted the Division III track championships in 2017 and 2019.

The NCAA has a four-year bid cycle, and Spire bids for all four years for both the Division II and Division III meets.

“We know we’re not going to get them all — and we obviously can’t get them both, because they (the divisions) use the same weekend — but we put in for as many as we can,” Orloff said.

The USA Wrestling U23 and U20 world team trials were new to Spire, although the facility was supposed to host it two other times before it was canceled due to the pandemic. This year’s event, which was presented by the Wrestlers in Business Network, generated an estimated $1.5 million in economic impact, the GCSC said.

“We will certainly be pushing to have it come back, and other events as well,” said Orloff, who said Spire wrestling coach Kenny Monday will help draw more USA Wrestling events. “From our standpoint, it went really well.”

The Union Home Mortgage Cleve-

Nearly 1,000 wrestlers competed at USA Wrestling’s U23 and U20 world team trials on June 3-5, 2022, at Spire Institute and Academy.

This year’s track championships generated an estimated $2 million in economic impact, the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission said.

land Marathon was back in its familiar late-May slot for the first time since 2019, drawing nearly 7,500 entries. (About 5,400 people actually finished one of the races.) That 7,500 figure is down about 25% from pre-pandemic levels, a decline in line with races around the country, according to Jack Staph, president of the Cleveland Marathon.

When the marathon is at its peak — around 15,000 entries — it has an economic impact of between $15 million and $16 million, so Staph estimated this year’s impact at around $7 million.

“It’s been a longtime staple in this community, and it continues to bring in a lot of people,” Gilbert said of the marathon.

Outside of Guardians games, Cleveland doesn’t have any big sporting events planned until late August, when Tennis in the Land returns to Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica. And unless one of the city’s professional sports teams makes a playoff run, Cleveland probably won’t have a “mega” sporting event until 2024, when the city hosts the NCAA Women’s Final Four and the Pan-American Masters Games.

But there are some good smaller events in the next few weeks, including the Stonewall Sports national tournament and summit; Cleveland Beach Rugby; and the GCSC Summer Golf Classic.

“The attention certainly goes to mega events — and we’re seeing the kind of crazy impact of those from the standpoint of media value and dollars spent — but day in and day out, our work is about the constant churn of high-quality, championship events that we can have in town eight, 10, 12 times a year or more,” Gilbert said.

“Our job is to help all these businesses that employ lots of people, bringing events of various sizes in town,” he added. “We want to fill those restaurants, those retail shops, those hotels, those Ubers. The money from those jobs then gets churned throughout the community.” joe.scalzo@crain.com, (216) 771-5256, @JoeScalzo01

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REAL ESTATE

GROCERS

From Page 1 However, the building permits approved by the city only say it is for a “national grocer.” The same phrase has been used by contractors and landlords seeking plan approvals at other proposed Amazon Fresh locations around the country.

No construction work is underway on the former Bed, Bath & Beyond store. The shopping center is also home to a Marc’s and Big Lots, which both have huge food sections.

According to the Amazon website, which points out an Amazon Fresh store is not available in the North Olmsted area, Amazon Fresh offers cashiers for checkout, but its primary offering is what it calls “Just Walk Out” shopping.

That means customers may scan the QR code in their Amazon app, use Amazon One to scan their palm, or insert a credit or debit card linked to their Amazon account to enter or leave the store. The system records items going into their carts — and which products get put back on the shelf.

Amazon has opened about 30 Amazon Fresh stores across the country since launching the first of that brand in 2020 in Woodland Hills, California. Its website listed none in Ohio as of Thursday, June 16.

The proposed North Olmsted store’s footprint will be smaller, 41,147 square feet, than Amazon Whole Foods stores, which can be 50,000 to more than 100,000 square feet. (Amazon Fresh is putting the former 48,833-square-foot Bed, Bath & Beyond store in North Olmsted on a diet.) Existing Amazon Fresh stores range in size up to 50,000 square feet in Laguna Hills, California, from as little as 30,000 in Fairfax, Virginia, according to CoStar, the realty data source.

Amazon Fresh stores carry Amazon-brand merchandise, a key area of potential profit for grocers compared with name-band items, as well as typical supermarket and convenience store merchandise.

Mentor to gain a duo of new commercial rental buildings

BY STAN BULLARD

DashMart, the DoorDash convenience-store competitor that opened a warehouse last year in the Flats, has opened locations In North Olmsted, Akron and Cleveland.

Although the retailer is clearly following an omnichannel strategy, a real estate strategy is also apparent as the digital company consolidates its move into physical retailing. Just six locations are available in the Cleveland and Akron Metropolitan Statistical Area for more than 100,000-square-foot properties, while 15 smaller empty stores are available and eight are in the Amazon Fresh sweet spot, according to shopping center vacancies listed on CoStar.

Some of the allure of the Amazon concept stores has been preempted by online and cellphone strategies adopted by mainstream grocers. For example, Giant Eagle Inc. of Pittsburgh, which has a commanding presence in the region, has offered a “Scan Pay & Go” mobile shopping service since 2018.

Meantime, DoorDash, the online delivery service for restaurants and groceries, added a DashMart location in March at 23100 Lorain Road, North Olmsted, according to a spokesperson.

The company also confirmed operations in Akron and in Cleveland.

With only a walk-in foyer and no entry to the product area, the outlet brings to mind old check-cashing stores. There are 25 locations around the U.S., the DoorDash spokesperson said.

The DashMart locations don’t allow customers to peruse their shelves. Instead, they are simply pick-up windows for consumers and DoorDash delivery drivers

(so-called Dashers.) With 2,000 items, they are focused on the convenience section, signaled by a “convenience” tab on the DoorDash app.

Although DashMart is clearly focused on the convenience-store business, a steadily increasing number of retailers compete to offer groceries as a means of getting shoppers into their stores as online shopping has unfolded.

Amazon declined to comment on a North Olmsted or any other Northeast Ohio locations. Stark Enterprises of Cleveland declined to comment on reports of an Amazon Fresh at its Fairlawn shopping center.

Bridge 33 did not return calls and emails through its website by 11 a.m. Thursday, June 16.

Visconsi Cos., the Pepper Pikebased national shopping center owner and operator, has an Amazon Fresh going into one of its centers in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

That’s known because the Arlingtoncardinal.com news blog on Wednesday, June 15, posted photos of Amazon Fresh signs going up at the Town & Country plaza.

The news blog reported that Visconsi representatives told city leaders as they received tax incentives for the project that they had signed a nondisclosure agreement with the prospective “national grocer” it had for the site.

Stan Bullard: sbullard@crain.com, (216) 771-5228, @CrainRltywriter

Mentor has long been known for big buildings, from Great Lakes Mall to massive former industrial buildings that are now multitenant business parks under very big roofs.

Most of the suburb’s growth on the industrial and professional office side has been driven by users, such as manufacturing companies, global concerns or local service businesses. Ground-up construction for the rental market has been an occasional undertaking. But two new real estate projects are starting to change that.

Kevin Malecek, Mentor director of economic development and international trade, said he is excited about the projects and others he sees adding a new level of development to the Lake County suburb east of Cuyahoga County.

“That’s especially the case near the new Cleveland Clinic hospital investment,” Malecek said. “We believe that will drive a lot of activity to the Norton Parkway area.”

The first fruit of that sentiment is becoming reality at 8160 Norton Parkway, where steel is going up for a three-story, 30,000-square-foot office building with floor-to-ceiling windows, huge upper-floor patios and current technology for a high-end office property.

The building is credited to the need and drive of the DiCello Levitt Gutzler law firm, which will move its Mentor CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | headquarters to the structure. The new full-floor office will include an 800-square-foot mock jury room that will allow young lawyers to become familiar with the courtroom and serve the firm’s need for practice juries and related needs.

Adam Levitt, a co-founder of the firm based at its Chicago office, said DiCello Levitt Gutzler is rapidly developing a national and international reputation and wants its attorneys to practice in space with modern technology

that befits its practice.

Launched in 2017 by Mark and Bobby DiCello and Levitt with 11 lawyers in Chicago and Mentor, the trial-focused plaintiffs’ law firm now has a total of 55 in offices in Birmingham, Alabama; Mentor; Chicago; New York City; and Washington, D.C. In Mentor, it needs room to grow from its current office at 7556 Mentor Ave., which the DiCellos have shared with the practice of their father, Robert DiCello Sr. The current office houses seven lawyers, while the new one can allow the firm to expand to as many as 20 attorneys in Mentor.

Meantime, in the densely populated industrial section on Mentor’s western end, developers of the 86-acre Mentor Innovation & Technology Park have formed a joint venture with Premier Development Partners of Cleveland to build — without a tenant leasing space in advance, or on speculation — a high-ceilinged contemporary warehouse like those that have cropped up throughout much of the region.

The 125,000-square-foot building could be the first of as many as three properties on the park, or even six, depending on the final size of the structures, according to land developers Rick and Greg Sommers of Chardon.

“We’re good at developing the land, while Premier has the know-how for an industrial building,” Greg Sommers said. The business park’s other partner is George Davis, the owner of ProBuilt Homes in Mentor.

S E P T E M B E R 3 - 9 , 2 018 | PA G E 2 9 Spencer Pisczak, president of Premier, said he is excited about the opportunity to work with the land developers he described as “hosting” this project. Prospective tenants, he said, are likely already in Mentor or Lake County, or even populous eastern Cuyahoga County.

“Increasingly, there are also companies new to Ohio that we hope to work with,” Pisczak added.

Completion is scheduled for the second quarter of 2023.

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From Page 11

“All the new multifamily is performing well,” Deemer said. “More multifamily is needed, because it’s performing so well. One part of the market is not pulling from another part of the market or building to building.”

If anything, Deemer is excited for developers to add more lower-cost housing to the market, such as at the proposed Centennial by Millennia at East Ninth Street and Euclid Avenue.

As of May 2022, the most recent data available, Yardi Matrix estimates downtown occupancy at 90.3% and Ohio City at 96.4%, compared with 96% for the Cleveland-Akron market as a whole. On those bases, combined with Northeast Ohio rents approaching those of other large markets, it’s easy to see how the market is likely to grow, at least until the headwinds become stormy and when — or if — a recession hits.

A taste for downtown living The other big factor is where tenants for new apartments are hailing from.

Echoing many real estate developers active in the region, Ralph McGreevy, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Northern Ohio Apartment Association trade group, said the market benefits from two big groups: aging baby boomers who want to change their lifestyle and downsize and, primarily, recent college graduates.

“They’re coming from Ohio State, Ohio University, Bowling Green, Kent State and the trade schools,” McGreevy said. “They want to be part

RELIEF

From Page 9

counties. “As long-lived contributors to society, older Ohioans deserve to age gracefully in their own homes and in the communities they helped build and sustain,” Beach wrote in testimony submitted to the General Assembly last year.

The exemption isn’t enough to buffer homeowners in Cleveland neighborhoods where high poverty and new construction sit side-byside. In Ohio City, former U.S. Rep. Mary Rose Oakar helped some of her neighbors challenge their valuations for 2018, when Cuyahoga County conducted its last full-blown reappraisal, and 2021, when officials performed an update.

“It’s really crucifying to some people,” said Oakar, who is 82 and still meets with former constituents and friends at an office in her side-byside duplex.

One former neighbor saw her property taxes jump by $1,600 for 2018, a 56% increase. A retired food-pantry manager, the woman sold her house and moved in with her daughter — after ending up on the other side of a food-distribution counter, in need of free produce.

Many older homeowners are unable, or unwilling, to seek a value reduction through the Cuyahoga County Board of Revision, which reviews individual cases. And their odds of successfully cutting their values, which combine with levies and other factors to determine tax bills, are low in places where new and rehabbed homes are driving the market ever higher.

Construction is underway on the City Club Apartments project on Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland, near East Ninth Street. | MICHELLE JARBOE/CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

of the action, and they want a job.”

A survey of inbound searches on Apartment List, a rental listing provider, shows 30% of prospective tenants are searching for a home from outside the Cleveland area. Of that group, 19% are searching from Columbus, 10% from Akron and 5% from Chicago.

Janna Ashby has lived in downThe appeals process can be intimidating or downright demeaning, said Donald Durrah, an 80-year-old appraiser and real estate broker who lives in Glenville, on Cleveland’s East Side. He’s worked with property owners to fight their valuations, but he’s also seen elderly residents who give up and move.

They're faced with a choice between two painful options — selling and tax foreclosure.

“You can’t steamroll the older people. They don’t move as fast,” said Durrah, who welcomes spillover growth from nearby University Circle but believes there need to be buffers for longtime residents.

“Everybody up and down here is north of 70,” he said of his street, Wade Park Avenue, which is lined with rambling century homes. “Another 10 years, it’s going to be over anyway.”

'Kind of a no-brainer' At Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, Stockhausen is thinking beyond the homestead exemption. He’s talking about flexible state legislation that would let local communities provide targeted relief — not a tax cut, but a limit on tax increases.

The basic framework would focus on owner-occupants of single-family homes who are current on their taxes or catching up through a payment plan. There would be no requirement for the state to replace foregone local tax revenues. And an income cap is likely, he said.

“Companies have been challenging and trying to decrease their property-tax burdens for ages,” he said.

“Nobody’s trying to do that for our

town Cleveland’s Warehouse District for the past five years. She was in the market to move from Solon following a divorce and had planned on renting in the eastern suburbs.

“After going to (the downtown) Heinen’s for a wine tasting, I decided I would try the urban living thing,” Ashby said. “I never looked back. My poor car sits in the garage.

If it’s not walkable, it’s bikeable. I travel a lot, and a real benefit is taking the rapid transit from Tower City to the airport. It’s the easiest thing in the world.”

The Indiana native said she enjoys downtown’s entertainment, sports, nightlife and volunteering as a RedCoat at Playhouse Square.

“I’ve found two groups of people

Rising property values and new development are driving up taxes in parts of Cleveland, making it harder for longtime homeowners, like Phyllis Bambeck, to pay their bills. | GUS CHAN FOR CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

low-income homeowners.”

Any changes to the tax system must be approached with caution, advocates and county auditors said.

Cutting taxes for one group of property owners shifts a burden to other taxpayers — and can hurt funding for schools and public services, including programs that support elderly residents.

“Absolutely, there needs to be a re-evaluation of the current process,” said Franklin County Auditor Michael Stinziano, who frequently hears concerns that Columbus-area residents are going to be taxed out of their homes.

“The real estate market and the structure that has been established relies heavily on this formula that does not seen sustainable if values

are going to continue to rise and taxing entities are going to keep going to the ballot,” he added.

At least two bills introduced last year in the General Assembly suggest caps on tax growth. Senate Bill 192 proposes a statewide limit on annual tax hikes for longtime homeowners.

It also would give communities the ability to soften tax increases or offer tax deferral in neighborhoods where new construction and significant renovation projects are driving up home values.

That bill, sponsored by former Sen. Sandra Williams, a Cleveland Democrat who recently stepped down, has been languishing. So has another tax-cap proposal, Senate Bill 159.

Adam Langley, associate director of U.S. and Canadian programs at the

here,” she said. “There are the younger people who are here for the fun stuff, and older people who are here for that, too, but are moving to an apartment because they’re tired of working in the yard on the weekends and ready to downsize.”

Stan Bullard: sbullard@crain.com, (216) 771-5228, @CrainRltywriter Lincoln Institute, has studied property-tax issues for more than a decade. He believes the best approaches to tax relief include deferrals, which let qualifying homeowners put off paying taxes until they sell, and circuit-breakers, which are limits that kick in when tax bills surpass a certain share of an owner’s income.

Increased state aid would be the most equitable response, he said, since poor communities that struggle to provide basic services can't necessarily deliver the level of relief that residents need. But tailored local programs would be the next-best solution.

“I do think state-authorizing legislation to allow local governments to provide property-tax relief is kind of a no-brainer,” Langley said.

Bambeck favors a tax freeze that would kick in at or near retirement age. Regardless of whether the legislature moves, though, she’s not budging. Frugal to a fault, she’ll find a way to keep her property, despite a yearly tax bill that climbed from $465 in 2011 to $2,166 for 2021.

It’s the home where she raised two children. Where the leaded glass windows paint rainbows on the walls even on cold winter days. Where her neighbors, renters and owners, young and old, don’t complain about her untamed landscaping or her outdoor clotheslines.

“My dad was 88. My mother was 92. So I figure I’ve got at least another eight years, if I take the average,” she said. “I think it’s possible I could get to 100. However old I am, I want to be in this house.”

Michelle Jarboe: michelle.jarboe@ crain.com, (216) 771-5437, @mjarboe

18 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JUNE 20, 2022

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