Photo provided by Welty Development
CBIZ Headquarters Redefines Rockside Corridor
Independence’s first Class A office building in decades rises near I-77, I-480 interchange Story & photos by Scott Esterly
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n November 1, 2023, employees walked into the new national headquarters of CBIZ for the first time. Located at 5959 Rockside Woods Blvd. N. in Independence, the six-story, 150,000-square-foot building rises above nearby attractions like Top Golf to redefine the land abutting dense woods and can be seen from the I-77 and I-480 interchange. CBIZ, which employs more than 270 local employees and has over 120 locations across the country, will occupy around 58,000 square feet in the building. “CBIZ found themselves looking for a new home, which gave them the opportunity to create something from scratch – not only a building that bears their name, but a high-performance workspace that is the office of the future,” says Don Taylor, CEO of Welty Building Company. After acquisition of the 9.8 acres of land by the Welty Development team, CBIZ and Welty embarked on a collaboration that would ultimately keep a major local employer not only in Ohio, but in the same city that it had been in for decades. CBIZ has committed to a 20-year lease in the new headquarters. “We’ve called Independence home for that past 25 years and wanted to maintain our presence here,” says Brian Antonius, director of real estate for CBIZ. “Being
able to partner with Welty and Vocon on a completely new space from the ground up gave us the opportunity to be creative and have a lot of input on the final product based on how we work as a team”
Welty’s horizontal integration
Welty ultimately touched all aspects of the development, construction and design of the building, employing its horizontal integration structure to take the project from concept to completion. Welty’s economic development unit, InSITE Advisory Group, secured helpful financial incentives while Welty Building Company provided project management and was the construction manager at risk. Additionally, Welty’s Environments for Business (e4b) provided interior design services and furniture, and Welty
Facilities Services Group will handle property management going forward.
Bringing people together
“We were looking for a space that would pull our people back into the office versus push them back in,” says Amy McGahan, director of corporate & strategic communications for CBIZ. “That gave CBIZ an opportunity to create a space that would invite people to come back and work as a team, which is what most businesses, whether they want to say it or not, are very interested in doing because we’re better together than we are when we’re not,” says Taylor. As the commercial sector continues to evolve in a post-pandemic world, businesses are weighing the needs of their employees and their own needs. CBIZ www.propertiesmag.com 29