Crain's Cleveland Business

At 30 years, iconic music venue Grog Shop weighs its future in the wake of the COVID pandemic.

‘TURNAROUND GUY’

Monte Ahuja’s investments boost Barrington and May eld Sand Ridge golf courses

BY JOE SCALZO

In the mid-1980s, when Monte Ahuja rst started gol ng, he applied to become a member of Chagrin Valley Country Club.

At that point, the club was very particular about its membership, Ahuja said, and it only took one “no” vote from the members for him to get rejected.

When Ahuja wasn’t selected, he was so upset, he made a vow.

“I said, ‘Someday I want to own the golf course,’” said Ahuja, a high-pro le philanthropist and chairman and CEO of Walton Hills-based Transtar Industries Inc. “ at was the motivating thing.”

Fast forward to 2011. Barrington Golf Club in Aurora found itself in bad nancial shape, with both the membership and the surrounding neighborhood in decline. Ahuja loved the Jack Nicklaus-designed course and saw the club’s potential, so when he heard Barrington was for sale, he moved quickly.

Cement shortage snags builders

BY STAN BULLARD

Daniel Tonelli, of Engineered Construction of North Royalton, sweats bad weather delaying a concrete pour even more than in the past.

BY MICHELLE JARBOE

When the city of Cleveland Heights solicited redevelopment proposals last year for a trio of Tudor Revival buildings on South Taylor Road, o cials were looking for preservation plans.

What they got, instead, was a potential $100 million vision.

A team led by WXZ Development not only aspires to restore the historic Taylor Tudors but also aims to erect new buildings across the street, while reimagining the eastern gateway into Cain Park. Plans drawn up by RDL Architects show new apartments, for-sale homes, dining and parking in the tired business district, a short stroll north of Superior Road near the University Heights border.

WXZ, based in Fairview Park, plans to apply for competitive state historic preservation tax credits this month to help revive the near-vacant Taylor Tudors as 44 apartments over rst- oor storefronts and live-work spaces. If the company wins an award, construction could begin in early spring.

e broader development might take ve years to realize, said Matthew Wymer, the company’s vice president.

“Obviously, the massive asset that you can’t ignore is Cain Park,” said Wymer, who lives in Cleveland Heights and oversees WXZ’s projects in Cleveland and its close-lying

“When we lost a day recently, it meant we lost deliveries,” he said. “We don’t know when we will get that order lled again. Concrete suppliers are taking orders a week out now. It’s become an incredible burden.”

e burden is widespread because cement suppliers have placed local ready-mix concrete suppliers on allocation, sometimes cutting daily deliveries in half. at slows down supply of the critical ingredient, which has to be installed in a given period of time before it hardens, in residential and commercial construction. Most observers have not seen such an allocation for their professional lives.

Andrew Gotlieb, business development manager for Keystate Homes of Bedford Heights, said that during the week of Labor Day, a vendor he declined to name was not able to supply concrete for two days. So plans to pour four oors of concrete at a custom home had to be broken up into more phases to match deliveries.

The fourth hole of the Sand Ridge Golf Club, which will host a qualifying tournament for the Korn Ferry Tour from Sept. 27-30. | SAND RIDGE GOLF CLUB

See GOLF

Donovan Mitchell

Guard, Cavaliers | Age: 26 Year entered league: 2017

Base salary: $30,351,780 2022 cash: $30,351,780

Contract: Five years, $163,000,300 (2021-26)

Here’s the deal: Cleveland’s highest-paid athlete is also one of its newest, having come to the Cavaliers in a massive trade on Sept. 1. Mitchell ends Kevin Love’s four-year reign atop this list, yet his salary is tied for 34th among NBA players this season. The NYC native has a $37.1 million player option for 2025-26, meaning the Cavs have three seasons to convince him the Forest City is a better t than the Big Apple.

CLEVELAND’S HIGHEST-PAID ATHLETES

Age: 28

Year entered league: 2016

Base salary: $18,796,296

2022 cash: $18,796,296

Contract: Three years, $52.5 million (2020-23)

Here’s the deal: After point guard Ricky Rubio (the No. 3 player on last year’s list) went down with a season-ending ACL tear in late December, the Cavs traded Rubio for LeVert in hopes of boosting their struggling o ense. It didn’t quite work — LeVert averaged 13.6 points in 19 games with the Cavs, which sounds better than it looked — and his future is cloudy entering the nal year of his deal.

Age: 22

Year entered league: 2019

Base salary: $8,920,795

2022 cash: $8,920,795

Contract: Four years, $29,083,315 (2019-23)

Here’s the deal: This is Garland’s rst appearance in the top 10, but it won’t be his last. After making his rst All-Star game last season, Garland signed a ve-year, $194 million extension that kicks in next season. He’s scheduled to make $33.5 million in 2023-24, which would make him the highest-paid player on the team.

Evan Mobley

Forward, Cavaliers

Age: 21

Year entered league: 2021

Base salary: $8,478,720

2022 cash: $8,478,720

Contract: Two years, $16,553,880 (2021-23)

Here’s the deal: The Cavs have club options for Mobley in 2023-24 and 2024-25, but unless he’s hit by a meteor between now and 2024, Mobley will join Garland in signing a massive extension following his third season in Cleveland. His rst one couldn’t have gone much better, as Mobley excelled on both ends of the oor, nishing second in Rookie of the Year voting.

Kevin Love

Forward, Cavaliers

Age: 34

Year entered league: 2008

Base salary: $28,942,830

2022 cash: $28,942,830

Contract: Four years, $120,402,172 (2019-23)

Here’s the deal: Love may have dropped a notch on this list over the past year, but his stock rose last season as he averaged 13.6 points and 7.2 rebounds to nish second to Miami’s Tyler Herro in the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year voting. While the Cavs could use his expiring salary to acquire another foundational player, there’s a chance Love sticks around past this season, which seemed unthinkable at this time last year.

Jose Ramirez

Third baseman, Guardians Age: 30

Year entered league: 2013

Base salary: $22 million

2022 cash: $22 million

Contract: Seven years, $141 million (2021-28)

Here’s the deal: Fresh o an unpopular name change and a 99-day lockout, the Guardians nally got some good news on April 5 when the four-time All-Star signed a below-market extension with a full no-trade clause. Broadcaster Tom Hamilton later called it “the turning point of the season,” even though the season hadn’t started yet. Ramirez has helped lead the MLB’s youngest team to a surprising push for the postseason.

Jarrett Allen Center, Cavaliers

Age: 24

Year entered league: 2017

Base salary: $20 million

2022 cash: $20 million

Contract: Five years, $100 million (2021-26)

Here’s the deal: After inking a nine- gure extension last summer, Allen proved to be a bargain in 2021-22, averaging 16.1 points and 10.8 rebounds while earning his rst All-Star berth. Allen, Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Darius Garland give the Cavaliers four All-Star-level players who are age 26 or younger.

Jack Conklin

Tackle, Browns

Age: 28

Year entered league: 2016

Base salary: $8 million

2022 cash: $8 million

Contract: Three years, $42 million (2020-22)

Here’s the deal: After playing in 94% of his team’s snaps in 2019 and 2020, the former All-Pro tackle had a frustrating 2021 season, su ering an elbow injury that cost him three games in November. In his next game back, he tore the patellar tendon and missed the rest of the season. So far, he has missed the rst two games of the 2022 season, as well. Could this be his last in Cleveland?

Cedi Osman

Forward, Cavaliers

Age: 27

Year entered league: 2017

Base salary: $7,426,088

2022 cash: $7,426,088

Contract: Four years, $31,118,844 (2020-24)

Here’s the deal: Osman has proven to be a useful — albeit streaky — reserve in his ve seasons in Cleveland. His 2023-24 contract is non-guaranteed, so look for him to join LeVert in every Cavalier trade rumor over the next few months.

Age: 21

Isaac Okoro Guard, Cavaliers

Year entered league: 2020

Base salary: $7,040,880

2022 cash: $7,040,880

Contract: Three years, $20,162,520 (2020-23)

Here’s the deal: The No. 5 overall pick in the 2019 draft hasn’t developed as Cavs fans would have hoped — especially on o ense — and this will be a key season for the 21-year-old. The Cavs have until Oct. 31 to pick up his 2023-24 club option.

Caris LeVert Guard, Cavaliers

Darius Garland Guard, Cavaliers

Martin House property up for sale

BY DAN SHINGLER

It might be back to the drawing board for the former University Club and Martin Center on Fir Hill near the University of Akron’s campus.

E orts by Cleveland’s Gateway Group and Paran Management, which partnered to lease the former club and turn it into a high-end boutique hotel called Martin House, were submarined by the pandemic, said Gateway chairman Tom Chema.

“We don’t have that lease anymore. We couldn’t perform within the timeframe we had agreed to,” Chema said, noting that the university now has the property listed for sale.

Chema and Paran seemed well-positioned to pull the project o at the end of 2019. Chema is the man who helped turn Cleveland’s dreams of a Gateway sports complex with new venues for professional baseball and basketball into a reality in the 1990s. Paran has a strong track record of developing and managing real estate projects, including Cleveland’s Glidden House hotel in University Circle — a property the partners and university had hoped Martin House could replicate in Akron.

Chema and Paran said they had nearly completed putting nancing for the project together in December 2019. At the time, though, the always-cautious Chema made what turned out to be a sadly prophetic statement.

“We’re moving along. I hate to say this, because I have no wood to knock on in this car, but we’re on schedule,” Chema said that December.

COVID-19 struck in early 2020

MEDIA

and by March was declared a pandemic, putting the U.S. in its version of a lockdown. It wasn’t anything like lockdowns in China, but it sent people home to work and e ectively shuttered the tourism and hospitality industries.

It also quashed Martin House’s nancing, Chema said — at least for now.

Not one to give up easily, Chema said he and Paran still hope to convert the property to a hotel, but as owners instead of leasing it from the university.

A purchase isn’t out of the question. e property is listed for sale by Independence-based Cushman & Wake eld | CRESCO Real Estate.

e 35,000-square-foot building and its lot of just under 3 acres come with an asking price of $1.3 million.

Representatives of Cushman & Wake eld did not return requests for comments. University representatives declined to discuss the property because they said the school was in due diligence on the matter, though they did not say with whom.

Two real estate professionals not directly involved with the transaction said Cleveland-based Liberty Development Co. is negotiating to buy the property, but executives there also did not return requests to con rm the rm’s interest or intentions.

Chema said he and Paran have submitted a proposal to purchase the property, for terms he declined to disclose, and are waiting to hear back from the university. Whoever buys it, Chema said the transaction should happen soon, because the building is falling into disrepair and already has signi cant leaks in its roof.

“It needs to happen before win-

ter comes,” Chema said. “Someone needs to get in and do some repairs to the roof and keep water from further infiltrating the building.”

If Gateway and Paran are successful, Chema said he thinks they can still turn the property into a rstclass hotel that would serve the university and its guests. ey hope to resurrect their plans to convert the property, which include adding about 25,000 square feet of space and amenities such as a restaurant, co ee shop and banquet/meeting rooms.

“We haven’t given up on that idea. We would still very much like to do that,” Chema said. “I can’t conceive of a use that would be more bene cial to the university that a third party outside of the university could do.”

Chema said he also think that the tide is turning back in favor of hospitality developments as the pandemic wanes, and that nancing the purchase of the property would be fairly easy because Gateway and Paran could use the property as collateral.

“We have been talking to regular commercial lenders about that,” Chema said. “We need a whole lot more money to do the (conversion) project, and that has been difficult. But to get the financing to buy the building shouldn’t be a problem.”

The hotel project would have to go back to the state of Ohio to attempt to renew tax credits that were previously awarded and have expired, though its federal tax credits remain in place, Chema said.

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

Marketing rm Falls & Co. names new president

BY JAY MILLER

Marketing rm Falls & Co. has a new president.

He’s Tom Bernot, who also will carry the title chief operating o cer at the downtown Cleveland rm. Rob Falls will become chairman and will retain his role of CEO.

e move completes a transformation of the business Falls has led since he came to Cleveland in 1989.

Falls said in a joint telephone interview with Bernot that the new president is the right person, at the right time, to take over an operation that is the consolidation of three businesses: a public relations rm, an advertising agency and a digital marketing organization.

“Tom has an inclusive background in everything we do,” Falls said. “He’s been the chief operating o cer of another agency, he’s done international work, branding. He’s done pretty much everything we do since we’ve evolved from a public relations rm to a full-service marketing rm.”

Bernot joined Falls Digital, then a separate company, as vice president in 2019. Before the year was out, Falls Communications, then a public relations rm, purchased Wyse Advertising and consolidated the

three companies into Falls & Co. Until taking on the job as president, Bernot had been senior vice president of new business development.

Falls & Co. now considers itself a strategic marketing rm with expertise in marketing communications, brand building, advertising and providing strategic technology services across digital platforms.

Among its clients are Duck brand tape, Lincoln Electric Co., plumbing xtures maker Moen Inc. and paintmaker Sherwin-Williams Co. e work is half business-to-business and half business-to-consumer.

Bernot, a Northeast Ohio native, was vice president at Balance Innovation & Design, a Cleveland design consultancy, when he joined Falls Digital. Earlier in his career, he served in multiple capacities at what is now Adcom, a Cleveland marketing rm, and at Swagelok,

where he was a global brand manager at the Solon uid systems products maker. Bernot is a graduate of John Carroll University.

“ e beauty of what we have is three pretty deep companies, that have separate expertise, brought together for clients on a more integrated fashion,” Bernot said. He added that he sees growth coming in the digital area since “everything has a digital thread to it. Even what you would call our traditional communications work has a huge technology and data piece to it that we didn’t see ve years ago.”

Falls came to Cleveland in 1989 from Detroit’s Anthony M. Franco Inc., as Franco was joining with the Griswold Inc. advertising agency in a four-person Cleveland public relations o ce. He eventually bought control of the agency and still holds 100% of its shares.

Falls said that, going forward, his role will be as a senior counselor to current clients and attracting new clients. He also will continue to be active in community organizations and support the marketing, communications and public relations profession.

Jay Miller: jmiller@crain.com, (216) 771-5362, @millerjh

Rob Falls, left, and Tom Bernot | COURTESY

Bertram Inn to cut room count, add condominiums

BY STAN BULLARD

Heritage Development Co. of Moreland Hills is moving on plans to partially check out of the hotel business at its Bertram Inn Hotel & Conference Center in Aurora.

e company is seeking construction bids from contractors and buttoning up nal details for the city to start converting 70 rooms to 28 luxury condominiums as soon as this fall. Under the plan, a newer wing of the hotel added in 2004 would be recast as two- and three-bedroom luxury suites. e plan would retain 126 hotel rooms.

Iris Wolstein, Heritage president, said in a phone interview that she sees the move as a response to the way that COVID-19 has changed the world.

“We don’t do the number of conferences that we did at e Bertram,” Wolstein said. “With fewer people coming, I thought, ‘Why not convert the separate building to condominiums?’ People like living outside the city. And people are not buying (new) houses, except for ours. ey are moving into smaller quarters.”

While the original plan for the boutique hotel and restaurant worked well, she said the hotel business in the eastern suburbs has suffered since the area lost the attractions for visitors with the closing of the former Geauga Lake Park in 2007

and the earlier closing of the former Sea World operation.

e condominium plan calls for a separate entrance for condominium owners from the hotel so “they wouldn’t have hotel guests traipsing through,” she said.

George Kimson, Heritage chief operating o cer, said the plan will allow condo owners to use the restaurant and pool amenities of the hotel and have their own tness center.

e plan calls for construction of garages to serve the condominium community and round-the-clock security with key fob security to enter the condominiums.

“ is would be attractive to young professionals and snowbirds,” Wolstein said, who want to travel without the concerns about security that go with a single-family home.

Designs by Vocon, the Cleveland-based architecture rm, show the exterior of the building would be updated to give it a more contemporary feel. Robert Benjamin, Heritage real estate director, said the plan calls for installation of porches or balconies for each suite and extensive landscaping to give the property a more residential feel.

e Heritage plan is a vastly di erent plan from when condo conversions rst hit Lakewood’s Gold Coast of apartments in the 1970s. In that era, condo converters for the most part simply sliced up apartments as

for-sale units in the double-digit interest rates of the time. More amenities in such conversions became common among downtown Cleveland condominium conversions in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

e Bertram condo plan has been long in the making. e site was rezoned to mixed-use from industrial to permit the for-sale residential units in a referendum in May 2021. e measure passed with almost 80% of the vote, according to the Portage County Board of Elections.

Aurora Mayor Ann Womer Benjamin said in a phone interview the rezoning had no strong opposition.

“I think it’s a positive direction for (Heritage) and the community,” she said. Benjamin said she believes ac-

Built with a purpose

By Kimberly Bonvisutto, Crain’s Content Studio-Cleveland

Integrating behavioral health across the continuum of care while addressing the acute need for more services is the goal of a new behavioral health hospital MetroHealth says will bring a powerful new set of capabilities to Northeast Ohio. This $42 million facility is believed to be the largest investment in behavioral health in Northeast Ohio in at least 30 years.

The opening comes as the demand for mental health counseling surges post-COVID and as Cuyahoga County is on pace to have more than 700 fatal overdoses this year, according to the county medical examiner’s of ce. This behavioral health expansion is intended to reduce Cuyahoga County’s critical shortage of care and treatment capacity.

In 2019, nearly half of the residents who required behavioral health inpatient care received it outside of Cuyahoga County. National guidelines reveal that the county has 220 fewer beds than what is needed to adequately serve the needs of local patients.

The MetroHealth Cleveland Heights Behavioral Health Hospital is a $42 million project that includes a new three-story, 79,000-square-foot building connected to the existing Cleveland Heights Medical Center, as well as 21,000 square feet of renovated space.

The combined project will include 112 beds for inpatient care for adolescents, adults and seniors struggling with addiction and mental health issues. The hospital, which will begin accepting new patients in October through a staggered unit opening, is expected to serve up to 5,000 patients annually and create 225 jobs.

Wolstein plan makes sense.

Ryan Young, principal of the Young Team real estate brokerage in Pepper Pike, said he believes it taps a growing trend in home ownership.

“ e mass exodus of luxury homeowners from maintenance and responsibilities of larger homes is apparent,” Young said. “It is driving them to a high-end, limited maintenance lifestyle. More and more developments are going to go in that serve people who want to walk out their door and go on vacation and not think about the property. is is the trend today, like the McMansions were a trend years ago.”

ceptance of condominiums in Aurora is strong because there are many townhouse projects in the suburb.

David Sangree, president of the Hotel & Leisure Advisors consultancy in Lakewood, said he is certain that the Aurora market no longer supports the number of rooms the property has.

Although hotel-to-condo conversions are scarce in Northeast Ohio, he said they are common in other parts of the country.

“ e Waldorf-Astoria and the Plaza Hotel in New York City have converted hundreds of rooms to condominiums,” Sangree said. “It’s unusual for a suburban property but not for an urban one.”

Two real estate agents think the

Bob Zimmer, an agent for Keller Williams Citywide in Cleveland who represents newly built condominiums, said he believes there is a market opportunity for condominiums.

“ ere is a need for ownership in the multifamily space. Not more rentals but for-sale product,” Zimmer said. “ ere’s just not much such product. How well it does depends on how well it’s done. With (Wolstein), you know it will be upscale.”

Kimson said the condo conversion is not being considered for Heritage’s downtown Cleveland Aloft hotel.

“ ey’re di erent markets, especially in downtown Cleveland, where the Aloft is doing well,” Kimson said.

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

After extensive conversations and strategic planning, including a 2019 Cuyahoga County needs assessment placing the expansion of mental health services near the top of the list, the MetroHealth Board of Trustees approved the behavioral health hospital in November 2020.

Changing health care delivery

Dr. Julia Bruner, senior vice president of behavioral health and correctional medicine, sees it as an opportunity to impact the overall health of the community.

“Part of what we’re doing that is unique for Northeast Ohio is we’re providing care all in one hospital – adolescents to geriatrics,” Dr. Bruner said, adding that the hospital will have an adjacent emergency room, as well as laboratory, pharmacy and imaging services.

“We intend it to be a place not only where patients receive excellent care in relation to mental health and addiction issues, but also where people seek out training opportunities.”

The new build will stagger the openings of its dual diagnosis unit (spring 2023), which will treat individuals with both mental health conditions and substance use disorders; adolescent unit (summer 2023); geropsychiatry unit (fall 2023) for older adults and mood/thought disorder unit.

The renovated space includes an admission unit adjacent to the emergency room, an inpatient psychiatric medicine unit and a psychiatric intensive care unit. The project also includes indoor and outdoor recreation space.

Moving to specialized practice

Dr. Robert Hammond, director of clinical services, said that instead of a typical focus on medication management and stabilization, the behavioral health hospital will work toward positive behavioral change.

With a goal of transitioning from general to more speci c practices, he said MetroHealth’s new hospital will nd the most effective programs for each condition.

“It lays out a foundation to look at evidence-based practices for different age groups and populations,” he said. “This is a rare opportunity for someone to completely immerse themselves in a space to work on their own mental health.”

Part of the continuum of care

Hammond added that the behavioral health hospital is one piece of a larger continuum of care. MetroHealth is building access points to outpatient services throughout the community, including law enforcement, social work, diversion programs and other health care settings.

“We’re working to create a situation that no matter what level of care you enter into, you have the ability to build off of the programming you’ve had so you learn the foundations in one area, and then move to another area of care and continue those gains,” Hammond said. “We’re giving people an opportunity to take what they learn and apply it into the community.”

MetroHealth’s new behavioral health facility an opportunity to impact overall community wellness

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Dr. Julia Bruner

Dr. Robert Hammond

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Iconic Grog Shop weighs its future

BY JEREMY NOBILE

It’s been three decades since Kathy Blackman traded in a reporter’s notebook to run the Grog Shop, and she’s been mostly living in the moment and the music ever since.

Like any small business, there was never any guarantee it would last.

But Blackman has never been one to dwell that much on the future — not until the last couple years and the onset of an economy-wracking pandemic, anyway.

“I don’t have (immediate) plans to retire. But I do start to think now if there is an endgame in sight,” Blackman said. “I don’t know if that’s two or ve or 10 years from now. But eventually, I will probably get out of this business.”

e Grog marks its 30th anniversary this month. While that milestone is being celebrated with shows by bands like e Cloud Nothings and the Melvins, it’s a bittersweet time, as the venue grapples with challenges that make its owner question what the future holds.

In ation. Lingering COVID outbreaks. Sta ng issues. Canceling bands. Supply chain shortages. ese are all factors the typically high-energy and laid-back club owner simply didn’t have to cope with in years past. And they may be starting

She and two friends, one of whom was into punk rock, pooled together $5,000 each to open the Grog.

Its rst home was at the intersection of Coventry and May eld roads in Cleveland Heights. It operated there for 11 years before moving to its current space in 2003 at 2785 Euclid Heights Blvd. at a prominent crossing with Coventry Road.

Blackman was just 24 years old when the Grog rst opened. She had no real background in music or business.

“I’ve always liked people and music and it seemed like this would be a better job than sitting at a desk,” she said. “But when I decided to open this place, I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. ere was never any business plan. I don’t think I worried about quite as much back then because I didn’t have as much to lose.”

It took a couple years for the Grog to nd its footing.

e venue dabbled with food, but that component was a money pit.

e Grog was booking local bands for shows, though, and nding moderate success there. After a couple years, promoters were helping steer touring performers to Blackman’s space.

In those early days, no one took a salary. Blackman got by on bar tips, pouring every little extra bit of money into the original space that she a ectionately recalls having one of the grimiest bathrooms in Greater Cleveland. At least that t with its crust-punk aesthetic.

to wear her down.

All the while, less money is coming in. For many venues, the music may be back, but pro tability is not.

With ticket sales lower than had been hoped, Blackman is currently planning to lose money on her anniversary shows. at contrast of joy and struggle is part and parcel of what the Grog has been dealing with since spring 2020.

“ ese past three years are just not how you would typically run a business,” Blackman said. “In 2023, things have to get back to normal. But how do you get there? I don’t know. I’m looking for that answer.” is current dynamic can only be sustained for so long.

“My costs are up, but are the revenues? No,” Blackman said. “Eventually, that’s going to catch up with me.”

From journalist to entrepreneur

In the early 1990s, Blackman had just nished college in Wisconsin where she studied French and journalism.

She returned to Northeast Ohio and a job with the Chagrin Valley Times but yearned for more excitement than came with covering the local police beat and the city of Solon.

When her rst building was sold years later and the Grog needed a new home, Blackman moved just a couple blocks up the road. She was the sole owner by this point, and one of just a handful of women running a music club in a scene dominated by men.

“I had a lot of con dence in her,” said Michael Peterman, CEO of North Pointe Realty and managing member of the Coventry Yard Association, Blackman’s landlord. “She was a real go-getter, and I liked that. I knew she would pay a lot of attention to the business. ere weren’t a lot of women, to my knowledge, doing what she was doing 20 years ago, and I was impressed with her from the beginning.”

e Grog is a major draw for the live-music crowd that often spends additional time and money in the Coventry area.

“It has de nitely been a popular attraction for my building, the street and, more importantly, Northeast Ohio,” Peterman said. “Kathy brings in entertainment young people want to see. And she has broken a lot of bands there.”

It was 50 years ago that WMMS radio personality Billy Bass dubbed Cleveland “ e Rock ‘n’ Roll Capital of the World.” But arguably more so than the city’s ritzy Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it’s the region’s scrappy independent music venues like the Grog — where bands and artists like Oasis, Kid Cudi and Bruno Mars played small shows before garner-

ing mainstream popularity — that help the region retain that personality today.

“ e Grog has provided such a platform for artists before they were big, and you can’t put a price tag on that,” said Annie Zaleski, a Cleveland-based freelance music journalist.

But as venues grapple with an uncertain future, questions arise about what we lose if clubs like the Grog

Kathy Blackman has owned the Grog Shop for three decades.

| GUS CHAN FOR CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

The crowd dances to the music during a July 12 performance by Big Freedia at the Grog Shop.

| EMANUEL WALLACE/EVA NOSLEN PHOTOGRAPHY

“THESE ARE THE PLACES YOU GO TO FEEL AT HOME. THEY’RE COMMUNITY HUBS. ECONOMICALLY, THEY’RE THE TYPES OF THINGS THAT MAKE PEOPLE — ESPECIALLY MUSIC FANS — MOVE TO A CITY.”

—Annie Zaleski, a Cleveland-based freelance music journalist

fade away.

“When we think about the neighborhood bars or co ee shops we go to, that is exactly what indie music venues are,” Zaleski said. “Especially the Grog Shop, which is in an iconic neighborhood. ese are the places you go to feel at home.

ey’re community hubs. Economically, they’re the types of things that make people — especially — move to a city.”

Regardless, the Grog, which can normally hold about 400 people, couldn’t seat more than 40 amid COVID restrictions. Curfews, meanwhile, forced businesses to close earlier than normal.

Blackman got creative. Small events were held at the Grog inside and out to bring some money in the door. A variety of fundraisers helped draw in additional cash, while stimulus money and a Shuttered Venue Operators Grant helped plug some nancial gaps.

But that money has all-but dried up, and the odds of seeing more are slim.

Blackman said the last couple years have been a roller coaster. Whenever COVID seemed to be waning, winter came, and there’d be another outbreak. Artists and sta would cancel with short notice as they got sick, leaving the venue empty on what may have otherwise been a decent night.

When vaccines came out, crowds were polarized between those who wouldn’t come to shows unless vaccines were required and those who refused to get vaccinated or show proof of it.

“We got so much negative feedback on that,” Blackman said about checking vaccine cards. “We just couldn’t win.”

Margins in this business are very tight in normal times, but Blackman had always found ways to make it work.

“ en, COVID hits. And all of a sudden, things were so even keeled and getting incrementally better, but then it feels like I’m back at square one,” Blackman said. “ at is nothing you want to be dealing with 28 years into your tenure of owning a business.”

As 2022 rolled around, Blackman stacked the concert calendar with shows in anticipation of crowds eager for live music.

But business has been unpredictable. And costs are still through the roof.

Plastic drink cups alone are up 300%. Bands are commonly asking for guarantees 50% greater than they would’ve required in the past. And amid all this, Blackman is paying her sta more in recognition of their own nancial situations.

Stimulus money has helped cover these higher expenses. But there’s not really any of that extra money left to spend.

“It was sort of like a false reality,” Blackman said. “I’ve been running a business where one and one equals seven. So, that money has been great. It helped sustain us and keep us going. It was helping us pay these bands that are asking for more than their ticket sales are generating. But now we have to get back to reality, and that’s the challenge. When do you reel it in, and how do you reel it in?”

Despite these concerns, Blackman is not ready to call it quits at the business she’s dedicated her life to these past 30 years. She jokes that while she is married and has two kids, this is nonetheless the longest relationship she’s ever had.

At the same time, these mounting struggles are clearly bringing her to consider the future in ways she hasn’t really concerned herself with before.

‘Back at square one’

“I’m not at the point where I’m going to pack up shop,” Blackman said. “But also, I am 30 years into it. Maybe I’ll just retire.”

Jeremy Nobile: jnobile@crain.com, (216) 771-5362, @JeremyNobile

“I’m other indie music venues in Cleveland because they bring so much joy to the city,” she added. “And I think the pandemic made us realize we can’t take them for granted.”

Bands stopped touring and live music was largely put on hold as the pandemic hit.

Still time

Political debates are an imperfect art form — assuming you can nd any artistry at all in politics these days.

Most people running for political o ce are pretty good at dodging questions they don’t want to answer. e good ones stay relentlessly on message at all times. ey script presentations based on consultants’ recommendations and practice lines of attack on social media that are rolled out in debates for broader consumption.

Plus, in an era of hard partisanship, there are relatively few persuadable voters in any given election. Most people get ev erything they need from a “D” or an “R” after the candidate’s name. From the perspective of candidates in 2022, they often don’t have much to gain in a debate, and they have lots to lose if they misspeak — or accidentally speak a truth that doesn’t comport with the way their side sees the world.

And yet, imperfect as they might be, and as much as they might bene t from innovations, debates still hold value. ey clarify a candidate’s positions in our minds. ey give us a chance to see how the candidate reacts under pressure. ey o er glimpses into the candidate’s intellectual dexterity, grasp of nuance and powers of argument — all important in dications of whether the person is up to the job.

All of this is to say that with about six weeks to go until Election Day, Nov. 8, it’s deeply disappointing that the two highest-profile races in Ohio, for governor and U.S. Senate, have no debates set and no real prospect for them to take place.

The onus in these cases is on the Republican candidates: JD Vance in the Senate race and incumbent Gov. Mike DeWine in the gubernatorial contest. The Ohio Debate Commission in Wednesday, Sept. 21, issued a statement indicating Vance and DeWine declined invitations to de bates that the commission hoped to stage in Akron on Oct. 10 and 12. Both Democratic Party nominees, Nan Whaley for governor and Tim Ryan for Senate, accepted the invita tions.

e commission’s board president, Dan Moulthrop, who knows a few things about getting people talking from his day job as CEO of e City Club of Cleveland, noted in a state ment that this election year “has been plagued with candi

dates from both parties who prize their campaign consul tants’ input over voters’ information needs.” He added, “When 84% of Ohioans are saying they want debates and campaigns refuse a good faith o er from a statewide organi zation, democracy is paying the price.”

DeWine, with a healthy lead in most polls over Whaley, the former mayor of Dayton, probably has convinced him self he doesn’t need to debate to win. He’s probably right. But that doesn’t make it right to cut the public out of a chance to evaluate the two candidates side-by-side. If you wonder why politics feels so fringy these days, dominated by people on the furthest margins of the left and right, you might point at failures to engage the vast middle of the electorate — people who stand to learn something in a de bate.

Vance, a political newcomer locked in what polls show to be a tight race with Ryan, in our view is missing an import ant opportunity to introduce himself to voters and explain his vision for the state and the country. In an email to Axios, a Vance spokesperson said, “It would be absurd to partici pate in a debate overseen by a liberal Tim Ryan donor who has repeatedly and publicly smeared Republicans” — a ref erence to the commission’s executive director, Jill Miller Zi mon, who previously ran as a Democrat for the Ohio House of Representatives and contributed $250 to Ryan in 2014. at strikes us more as posturing (Republicans never lose with their voters by bashing perceived media/elite bias) than substantive critique about how a debate actually would play out, but if that’s how it stands, well, voters are the real losers.

We’re not talking about a series of debates at this point. Just one session in each race would do. ere’s still time to put something together on the y, and the candidates should do whatever needs to be done to make debates happen. Millions of Ohio voters deserve better than what they’re currently get ting.

Candidates want these jobs for four (in the gubernatorial race) or six (for the Senate) years. It’s not too much to ask that they give the public 90 minutes of their time to answer ques tions.

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

PERSONAL VIEW

In ation is best explained by this underrated economic theory

Currently the most underrated theory in economics is the so-called Quantity eory of Money.

It has been out of fashion for a long time, and even Feder al Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has said that a strong mon ey-price connection has not held for at least 40 years. None theless, on closer examination the quantity theory does a reasonable job of explaining much of recent economic his tory.

In its simplest form, the quantity theory states that MV = PT. at is, the quantity of money multiplied by its velocity of circulation encapsulates all relevant transactions. (Mon ey, velocity, prices and transactions are the respective terms in that equation.) More substantively, the quantity theory suggests that it is useful to think about the “M” in this equa tion — the money supply — as an active causal variable for macro policy.

Consider the recent spurt of 8% to 9% in ation in the U.S. e simple fact is that M2 — one broad measure of the mon ey supply — went up about 40% between February 2020 and February 2022. In the quantity theory approach, that would be reason to expect additional in ation, and of course that is exactly what happened.

e quantity theory has never held exactly, one reason being that the velocity (or rate of turnover) of money can vary as well. Early on in the pandemic, spending on many services was di cult or even dangerous, and so savings sky rocketed. Yet those days did not last, and when the new money supply in crease was unleashed on the U.S. economy, there were in ationary conse quences.

AMERICA’S CURRENT INFLATION TROUBLES SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN A SURPRISE.

is is consistent with one of the longest-standing truths of economic history, from the in ationary episodes of ancient Rome to the French Revolution to Weimar Germany. In retrospect, America’s current in ation troubles should not have been a surprise.

One reason the quantity theory fell out of favor is that the Fed increased bank reserves signi cantly following the nancial crisis of 2008. By mid-2010, the Fed had increased reserves to the banking system by $1.2 trillion, in compari son with about $15 billion in the years just before the crisis. Yet in ation stayed below 2%, and during early parts of the crisis it fell.

On closer examination, that episode does not refute the quantity theory. e theory leaves room for the possibility that declines in velocity — which also can be called increas es in the demand to hold money — can counteract increases in money supply.

Along those lines, the Fed started paying interest on bank reserves, which led banks to hold most of the new surge in reserves. e Fed’s policy was thus more of a capitalization of the banking system than a truly expansionary monetary policy.

It is true that one earlier quantity theory advocate, Nobel laureate Milton Friedman, placed too much stress on the stability of money demand. So Friedman’s theory did not apply too well to the 2008-2010 period. But the more general version of the quantity theory held up ne.

See

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.

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TYLER COWEN/BLOOMBERG OPINION

RICH WILLIAMS FOR CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

BY RICHARD OSBORNE

A couple of decades ago, our morning daily paper named a new editor who was a transplant to Cleveland. To familiarize himself with the culture of the city, the editor embarked on a series of lunches with representative locals.

At his lunch date with me, he had two questions: Did I think our baseball team should change its name? And this: What is a characteristic that de nes Cleveland?

My answer to the rst question was “yes,” but I foolishly added that I couldn’t believe the team’s name would ever actually change.

My answer to the second question has better withstood the test of time. I said that Cleveland enjoyed an extraordinarily generous corporate culture. “Corporate leaders know that if you’re going to be a player here, your company must have a community conscience,” I said.

I remembered that conversation as I perused the recent Crain’s list of the community’s largest manufacturing companies. e list testi es to the point I made to that new editor so long ago.

I had the good fortune of literally writing — or, at least, editing — the book on two of the manufacturing companies in the Crain’s Top 10: Lubrizol and Cleveland-Cli s.

So enamored with the culture of Lubrizol was longtime executive Douglas W. Richardson that, when he retired after 34 years with the company, he set about the task of memorializing its philosophy of integrity and generosity in a meticulously detailed history. Richardson chronicled Lubrizol’s formative years and documented the guiding principles established by founders Kelvin, Kent and Vincent Smith, Frank and Alex Nason, and omas James.

After Richardson’s death in 1997, editor Kathleen Mills and I shared the task of completing his un nished book. In Richardson’s words and our own research, we discovered a company steeped in the ideal that ethical companies can and must do good even as they do well.

Lubrizol’s community spirit was underlined to me years later when, as president of Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School, I was pleased to accept the Lubrizol Foundation’s generosity in support of a new chemistry lab — just one of countless examples of the foundation’s benevolence.

On the 150th anniversary of Cleveland-Cli s, I was enlisted to write a history of the company long associated with the legendary Samuel Livingston and William G. Mather, descended from the renowned Mathers of New

INFLATION

From Page 8

So what might a quantity theorist say about the current situation?

One obvious point is that, for all the Fed’s talk to the contrary, current monetary policy remains expansionary. If you look at interest rates, the recent Fed funds rate has been hovering in the range of about 2.5%. Many T-Bill rates are in the range of 3% to 4%. You can debate which is the appropriate measure of price in ation (core in ation? overall in ation? median in ation?), but under any sensible standards these interest rates are still negative in real terms. e Fed just isn’t doing that much to choke o borrowing.

A brighter sign is M2 growth, which was 5.3% yearover-year in July 2022. With 2% economic growth, that is consistent with in ation of a little more than 3%, assuming changes in monetary velocity do not intervene. Better yet, M2 growth rates have been falling consistently, from almost 14% in August 2021.

One way of thinking about all this data is that the U.S. is likely to be converging on lower in ation rates — but that interest rate policy is overrated in its e cacy. at perspective follows naturally from quantity theory tools.

Some analysts stress that lowering the rate of in ation

Osborne is a retired business writer and editor.

England. Along with editors Jeanne Weitman and Edward J. Walsh, I documented the company’s pioneering roots, and we devoted a section focused on its corporate conscience.

Among many other examples, that conscience was demonstrated during the Great Depression when the company planted 1,600 vegetable gardens to help feed local families.

Still today, the Cleveland-Cli s Foundation supports a panoply of educational, cultural, health and other civic organizations.

Similar stories of corporate largesse can be told of each of the companies on the Crain’s manufacturing list. e charitable foundations and trusts of Swagelok ( rst on the Crain’s list), for example, support local charities to the tune of $5 million every year.

And by no means is the corporate conscience of Cleveland limited to the city’s manufacturers. Our banks, law rms and accounting rms, among others, have similar histories.

Moreover, no one can dispute the enormous impact of Catholic Charities, the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, the Cleveland Foundation, the Gund Foundation and others on the rich social-service fabric of the region.

Cleveland’s corporate leadership can be traced to Samuel Mather, often referred to as Cleveland’s “ rst citizen,” who helped establish the Community Chest in Cleveland in 1913. Community Chest eventually morphed into the North American network of United Way a liates, which exemplify corporate giving. True to its leadership at the start, United Way of Greater Cleveland remains a standout.

And let us not forget Sam Mather’s contemporary John D. Rockefeller, sometimes called the greatest philanthropist in American history, whose local largesse included Western Reserve University, Case Institute of Technology and the Cleveland Orchestra.

At the time of Sam Mather’s death, Rockefeller said this of his Millionaires’ Row neighbor and fellow practitioner of capitalism and good works: “His generosity did not stop with gifts of money. ese things were causes to him. He followed his money with himself. He did not delegate his philanthropy.”

Today’s corporate leaders continue the practice, and we are all the bene ciaries.

requires big changes in scal policy. at is usually true for bankrupt nations, which have to print money to pay the bills. But for solvent nations such as the U.S., this is not necessary.

I predict rates of price in ation will fall signi cantly over the next three to ve years without a very dramatic change in the U.S.’s overall scal position. If I am correct, it is worth noting, that will represent a triumph for the Quantity eory of Money.

KEVIN DIETSCH/GETTY

OFF T HE BEAT EN PATH

BY JUDY STRINGER

When Stephanie Ridgely’s 15-year event planning career was forced into a COVID hiatus in March 2020, the Kent State MBA decided it was time to live out a dream of operating her own venue.

Within months, she’d found her diamond in the rough, the former Holy Ghost Byzantine Catholic Church at the corner of Kenilworth Avenue and West 14th Street in Tremont. e 112-year-old church — which boasted more than 3,000 parishioners at its height — had been vacant for six years when Ridgley and her husband, Tim, bought it in February 2021.

“Our Realtor thought it was nuts,” she said. “I was like, ‘No, I have a vision.’”

at vision came to fruition this summer as e Elliot, as it is now named, hosted its rst event — a July wedding to ring in one of Greater Cleveland’s newest o beat venues. While downtown is ripe with meeting-friendly hotels, restaurants, private clubs and mu seums, there’s something to be said for the unexpected.

“Everyone wants their guests to

have an outstanding experience, and part of that is giving them something di erent,” said Joan Rosenthal, CEO and founder of Marigold Catering, which owns and operates the factory-turned-eventspace Tenk West Bank in the Flats. “ at’s pretty much why they book Tenk, really, because it’s unique.”

Here are four o -the-beatenpath venues guests will not soon forget.

Nestled inside the former Holy Ghost

Byzantine Catholic Church’s iconic twin-dome exterior, The Elliot features two event spaces.

KEN BLAZE FOR CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Community Working together to drive progress

At Bank of America, we continue to support diverse local communities to help fuel economic opportunity and growth. We’re inspired by the determination and passion of Hispanic-Latinos and are committed to doing more as a trusted partner. Here are some of the ways we’re helping:

Listening

Our Hispanic-Latino Business Councils across the country are focused on understanding the needs of our clients so we can better serve them.

Supporting

We’re furthering our partnership with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, Inc., helping emerging leaders succeed in today’s economy.

Delivering

Our Better Money Habits® platform is available in Spanish, Mejores Hábitos Financieros,® to help people build financial know-how and make informed, confident decisions.

My teammates and I are proud of the work we’re doing in Cleveland to address the needs of our clients and the diverse communities we serve.

Jeneen Marziani President, Bank of America Cleveland

Learn more at bankofamerica.com/cleveland

Bank of America, Better Money Habits, Mejores Hábitos Financieros and the Bank of America logo are registered trademarks of Bank of America Corporation. Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. Equal Credit Opportunity Lender © 2022 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved.

What would you like the power to do? ®

A NICE TRIP

Incentive travel industry adjusts to pandemic-related standards

BY DOUGLAS J. GUTH

Ashley Lawson remembers all too well where she was when the U.S. declared COVID-19 a national emergency in March 2020.

Lawson, vice president and managing partner of Westlake-based global travel incentive rm Achieve Incentives & Meetings, was leading a trip to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, when the frightening news came down. After managing travel arrangements out of the country, Lawson returned to Mexico to renegotiate a contract with a key client.

“During the pandemic, there was lots of replanning and ‘lifting and shifting’ of program dates as everything was adjusted,” said Lawson, whose family-owned company is now celebrating its 70th anniversary. “We’ve done this many times over the past few years as things kept changing.”

Adaptation has been vital for an industry now dealing with two years of pent-up travel demand. Companies that survived pandemic downturns are now sought by corporations rewarding top performers with team retreats, paid family vacations and other exclusive experiences.

e Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) outlook for 2022 predicted a 34% increase in overall incentive travel budgets this year. Meanwhile, according to Corporate InSITE’s Changing Face of Incentive Travel report, 94% of companies surveyed considered incentive travel a crucial means of rewarding and recognizing their employees.

A subset of the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions industry, incentive travel is generally described as a perk motivating employees or partners around company objectives.

A report from the Rosen College of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida dened an incentive event as “a corporate sponsored meeting or trip to reward e ort and create company loyalty, often built around a theme; and a celebratory event intended to showcase persons who meet or exceed sales or production goals.”

Local enterprises involved with the industry are no longer concerned about incentive travel making a comeback — their focus now is continuing to adjust in line with evolving travel restrictions, testing protocols, local regulations, and prevalent supply chain and labor disruptions.

Lawson’s team creates packages around client travel demands while also contracting hotel rates, booking ights, planning tours, heading up marketing, and handling any of the myriad issues that arise on the ground.

Part of Achieve Incentive’s reinvention during the pandemic has been speed to market. Prior to March 2020, planning and marketing a trip was an 18-month process where the client wanted to drum up hype and excitement around the pending journey. Today, executives desire rapid turnarounds — sometimes as little as 60 days — before heading o into the wild blue yon-

der. To that end, Lawson will source second- and third-tier cities with less visitor compression or hotel room demand.

“Businesses are seeing how important it is to bring people together and show appreciation to their team,” said Lawson. “Instead of revenue-based incentives for individuals, companies are now choosing to incentivize entire teams. ey’re using trips as a tool for talent management and customer acquisition, because it’s an advantage to reward the team and make people feel special.”

Planning in advance an industry key

e GRA Group in Rocky River creates incentive travel packages for wholesaler trades — roo ng, plumbing, the HVAC industry and more. Incentive trips are far more attractive than gifts or cash handouts, as clients are giving employees an unforgettable experience, believes owner Mary Catherine Barrett.

Keeping this credo in mind, GRA Group puts together basic packages to Cancun as well as Alaskan cruises and all-inclusive jaunts to Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. Creating what Barrett calls a “wow experience” is a priceless relationship builder for a company.

“It gets people thinking about you as more than just a business and bottom line,” Barrett said. “ e value is relationships and loyalty.”

Barrett had a 75-member group in St. Lucia on the eve of the U.S. pandemic emergency. She helped get her charges o the island on time, while harnessing skills as a practicing attorney to rearrange hotel contracts.

With incentive and leisure travel nearing pre-pandemic levels, Barrett remains proactive to counter labor shortfalls that have hotels operating at less than full capacity.

Planning a year or even two in advance is a necessity with leisure travel prioritized over Barrett’s in-

dustry.

“I tell my clients, let’s book now,” Barrett said. “You want those January or February 2024 deals done fast so you can get a decent rate.”

‘Hitting the easy button’

GRA Group is always working to book trips in accordance with various travel restrictions and vaccine regulations. Barrett recently eliminated Turks and Caicos as a destination due to vaccine requirements for all travelers ages 10 and older. With the former travel hot spot o the rolls, she now focuses on parts of the world with less restrictive laws.

“I’m proposing places where it’s easier to travel in and out of,” Barrett said. “It’s like taking your shoes o at an airport — this is the new norm, so we’re trying to normalize (issues around vaccines).”

Local incentive travel groups also are using technology more than ever. Rather than shipping out paper travel booklets in the run-up to an excursion, organizers will provide a website and app dedicated to the event. All-encompassing apps deliver pertinent trip information and serve as a communications hub through which users send direct messages.

Achieve Incentives sends tripready clients digital ight data and additional “know-before-you-go-information,” Lawson said. On-site, travelers are given photo uploading apps that later can be incorporated into an album.

Nor are changes around technology, booking and tour planning expected to fade even as the COVID-19 pandemic becomes a more controllable entity. Like many industries, incentive travel must remain nimble to succeed, Lawson noted.

“Our motto is pressing the easy button around planning,” Lawson said. “Easier planning is a win-win all around for us and our partners.”

Contact Douglas J. Guth: clbfreelancer@crain.com

Owner Mary Catherine Barrett, left, and Tina Haley of Rocky River’s GRA Group take in the tropics. | CONTRIBUTED

VENUES

The Madison

Originally a 1900s luxury faucet manufacturing plant, e Madison’s strength is a calculated minimalist aesthetic, according to Zakia Labib, creative director of sales for the 4-year-old Midtown business.

“It’s basically a blank canvas,” she said. “ at being said, it’s fun to see how clients bring in their own take on it.” e Madison’s 11,000-square-foot main event space is the site’s larg est “canvas.” With a 20-foot ceiling, white brick walls and austere con crete oors, the warehouse-sized room holds more than 700 people and can be “dressed up” as the user wants, Labib said.

“We’ve had trapeze artists hanging from the ceiling and over owing oral arrangements cascading from overhead beams. We just had Front International here, and they transformed it into this ‘Stranger ings’ vibe with the entire space bathed in neon lights. en there’s events with simpler, more delicate touches,” she said. e 4,000-square-foot Foundry Room, which accommodates up to 250 standing guests, sits just outside the main space and mimics its minimalist, dress-me-up appeal. For larger main-room events, the Foundry often ips into a cocktail or VIP area.

A private open-aired courtyard behind the building is a favorite space of Labib’s, especially when the trees lining the space are in bloom. A common guest refrain, she said, goes something like: “I had no idea this was here!” (4601 Payne Ave., Cleveland; themadisonvenue.com)

Both the warehouse-sized main room and the 4,000-square-foot Foundry Room at the Madison can be “dressed up” as the user wants. | CONTRIBUTED

“WE’VE HAD TRAPEZE ARTISTS HANGING FROM THE CEILING AND OVERFLOWING FLORAL ARRANGEMENTS CASCADING FROM OVERHEAD BEAMS.”

—Zakia Labib, creative director of sales for The Madison

Radhika Reddy and her Ariel Ventures partners purchased the vacant Pearl Street Savings and Trust, located in the heart of Old Brooklyn, in 2016 and opened the bank lobby up as a 250-person event space one year later.

Much of the venue’s charm is a re ection of the 1923 bank’s ca thedral-like details. e lobby’s original marble oors, columns, arches and paneling — the latter salvaged from the bank teller sta tion — have been fully restored, as have the rotunda, the embel lished co ered ceiling and a wall of arched windows overlooking Broadview Road. Eight crystal chandeliers were added to elevate the room’s elegance.

In addition to the lobbyturned-grand hall, Ariel Pearl of fers a cozier cocktail-style room and a stately replace lounge.

Reddy said her rm has gone to great lengths to preserve the his torical integrity of the building. Guests are particularly delighted with the bank vault and its mas sive security door, wherein vin tage deposit boxes double as an intriguing photo backdrop. Tall desks that once stood between tellers and their customers now serve as bars.

“It’s like a walk through histo ry,” said Jessica Tonsing, event manager at the site. “A lot of times people will say that their grand parents used to bank here; there’s a personal connection.” (4175 Pearl Road, Cleveland; arielpearl center.com)

Tenk West Bank

Marigold Catering owner Joan Rosenthal said “industrial chic” best describes the ambiance of Tenk West Bank, a rehabbed 19th-century warehouse along the West Bank of the Flats.

Marigold bought the building in 2017, lured by its size and its lo cation.

“We’d always wanted to have a venue where we can compete with hotels, and this houses 400 people (seated), so it gives us an oppor tunity to do the larger parties,” she said. “We also wanted to be in a cool area, and the West Bank has that prefect Old World-meetsmodern feel.”

e Tenk building was once a shipping repair site, Rosenthal said, where operators would haul their large vessels into the riverside fac tory. It was named, however, for longtime tenant Tenk Machine & Tool Co., which left in 2008.

Today, the red-brick setting houses two prominent event spaces — Atrium and North Bay — that both take advantage of exposed original brick, wood and metal beams, and lofty oversized windows to create an atmosphere that is at once industrial and customizable.

“Often when you go into a hotel, you can’t do anything with the room. You kind of have to work around what’s there,” Rosenthal said, adding that the simplicity of Tenk’s backdrop allows any host “to put their stamp on it.” (2111 Center St., Cleveland; marigoldcatering.com)

The Elliot

Nestled inside the former Holy Ghost Byzantine Catholic Church’s iconic twin-dome exterior, e Elliot features two distinct event spaces.

On the main level, the two-story barrel-vaulted ceiling tops what was once a sanctuary and is now a ballroom that accommodates up to 300 guests and features a Swarovski crystal chandelier. A grand staircase leads to a balcony and e Elliot’s signature rose window. Every feature, from the plaster ceiling to the luxury vinyl tile ooring to the 27-foot quartz bar, is dressed in shades of white.

Downstairs, the emerald-hued walls, dark wood nishes, pubstyle seating and di use lighting in the Rosehip Room, which can hold up to 200 guests, takes on a strikingly di erent tone.

e contrast, co-owner Stephanie Ridgely said, is intentional. “Upstairs, we wanted to keep it airy and open and neutral, with some classic design elements,” she said. “Down here, I just put in all my personality. … People are really surprised when they come down stairs, and I think that awe is part of what makes this venue unique.” Ridgely said she and her husband spent about $3 million and roughly 12 months gutting the deserted church and transforming it into a one of Tremont’s few event venues.

“ e location was what really drew us to this building,” she said. “We’re ve minutes from (downtown) Cleveland but in this amazing historic neighborhood and with Lincoln Park is right across the street.” (1415 Kenilworth Ave., Cleveland; theelliotcle.com)

Stephanie Ridgely and her husband, Tim, turned a 112-year-old church into an event venue.

KEN BLAZE FOR CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

The Rosehip Room features emerald-hued walls, dark wood nishes, pub-style seating and di use lighting. | KEN BLAZE FOR CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Much of Ariel Pearl’s charm is a re ection of the 1923 bank’s cathedral-like details, such as the original marble oors, columns, arches and paneling. | CONTRIBUTED

Both of Tenk West Bank’s event spaces take advantage of exposed original brick, wood and metal beams, and lofty oversized windows. | CONTRIBUTED

Ariel Pearl

IN REAL LIFE

A year of recovery for events, meetings

BY KIM PALMER

With pandemic restrictions winding down, in-person meetings and conferences are on the rebound, but many experts believe that even with the increase of more in-person events that some level of virtual participation is now a permanent part of the business meeting and convention landscape.

Business conferences and nonpro t fundraisers have not yet returned to 2019 levels but are recovering. As Gordon Taylor III, Destination Cleveland’s vice president of convention sales and services, explains it, “conference attendees say they don’t feel as connected via virtual conferences in the same way they do for in-person events. People are eager to get back to in-person travel and experiences.”

Destination Cleveland collects both empirical and experiential data from Cleveland’s convention visitors every year, and according to Taylor, “We keep hearing that while virtual meetings will always have their place in the workday moving forward ... most meeting and business travelers say nothing can replace face-to-face interaction.”

Destination Cleveland IRL

In 2021, after nearly a total calendar year of cancellations and rescheduling, Cleveland saw a modest return to in-person meetings.

Last year, the city hosted 139 meet-

ings and conventions, which translated into 114,649 hotel room nights, nearly 100,000 fewer than in pre-pandemic 2019, when there were 295 meetings and conventions. Hotel room nights represent the total number of rooms a planner commits to at a hotel in exchange for a speci c contracted rate.

“While sentiment about the return of business travel is seeing the highest levels since COVID began, corporate policies and concerns from legal departments over employees contracting COVID while traveling continue to impact business travel plans,” Taylor said.

Travel restrictions and cancellations, coupled with the overall cost of travel due to fuel costs, are holding back some business travel, according to research data from STR, a global hospitality-industry data, analytics and marketplace rm, which found that only more than half of business travelers are expecting to travel in the next 12 months.

But the news for the industry is generally good for Cleveland. In 2022, the city hosted 21 events or conventions that had been delayed and rescheduled from before the pandemic, and this year alone meetings and conventions have been responsible for bringing nearly 300,000 people to Cleveland.

“ e return of meetings and conventions is strong, with hosting reaching 69% of 2019 volume in terms of number of meetings hosted in Cleveland this year. at’s 46%

higher than 2021,” Taylor said.

Visitation to Cleveland overall (leisure and business travel combined) is projected to rebound to pre-pandemic levels by 2024, the same as projections nationally. In terms of business travel rebound — group and business conventions based on room nights — Taylor said Destination Cleveland research predicts 2024 will even surpass 2019 levels.

is month, Cuyahoga County Council approved more than $40 million as part of a total $54 million in renovations to transform the Global Center for Health Innovation building, formerly known as the

Medical Mart, into an addition of the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland, adding a junior ballroom and meeting spaces to the 225,000 square feet of exhibit space.

e expansion comes at a opportune time, with Cleveland planning to host the NCAA Women’s Final Four and Pan-American Masters Games, Taylor said.

“ e year 2024 continues to be our big year as we gear up to host the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) annual meeting in August of that year. is event is often called the ‘Super Bowl of meetings’ due to it being an audience of decision-makers. It is estimated that 20% of the delegates who attend that meeting book a meeting or convention in the host city within ve years,” he added.

an event would need at a minimum 90 days to plan, she now has some organizations asking her rm to plan large events as little as two weeks out.

“ e trend we are looking at right now is shorter booking windows and compressed planning timelines,” Palmer said. “Some are not realistic. People have come asking for quotes for things two days out of an event for 3,500 people, when in the past you would have had 12-18 months for that.”

at problem is compounded by labor issues following an overall tight talent business trend, she added. “ is is also the rst time in the industry, speaking from personal experience, when we have not been able to nd a service provider for an event — speci cally, valet,” Palmer said.

Corporate Training and Professional Development

A new virtual and in-person reality

After a year of being completely virtual, late last summer Gail Palmer, chief event o cer at Palmer Event Solutions, said her company saw the rst icker of in-person, outdoor events. “More people were ready to come back together, ready to set up a tent and hear a message, participate in an activity or meet with their teams, but in a safe way,” she said.

Palmer’s company is a special events rm working mostly with area nonpro t organizations putting on events like the Cleveland Heart Walk for the American Heart Association and the upcoming Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night.

Attendance numbers a year out from those rst events are about a third of what they were pre-pandemic even with the safer outdoor events, but with diminished expectations organizers are seeing numbers that meet their predictions.

“We are not back to 2019 yet, but we're starting to see better attrition rates,” Palmer said.

e groups Palmer works with depend on in-person events for fundraising but have also been conscientious about the safety surrounding large gatherings, and because of the trepidations have been taking a lot of time to come to a decision to give the go-ahead for planning.

In an industry where orchestrating

e trends she sees for 2022 and 2023: “No. 1, things will cost more; No. 2, people are having a hard time nding people; and No. 3, the new trend is simplify, simplify, simplify.”

Part of that simplifying is planning events that also have a virtual participation option, because everyone is now comfortable with them and hybrid in-person and virtual helps boost the capacity of events, she said.

Also as part of that simplifying trend, Palmer forecasts the new year will mean more live events but often at a more intimate size, with more intentional focus on planning.

e trend is not to have meetings for the sake of meeting, and those in-person meetings are less about time spent on presentations and people talking at people and more on people talking to each other.

“We are producing shorter programs with more socialization,” Palmer said. “In some cases, this is the rst time in three years these people have been together in a room, and there's a higher need to reconnect and connect one-on-one as opposed to just sitting in a chair and listening to a meeting presenter.”

e new emphasis is on the right people in the room as opposed to all the people in the room. e trend for both nonpro ts and corporations is to be a little more diligent about who travels and when they are going to travel, Palmer said.

Kim Palmer: kpalmer@crain.com, (216) 771-5384, @kimfouro ve

Exhibitors set up for the BFG Marketplace Expo, a lawn and garden trade show, at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland on Sept. 19. | MICHELLE JARBOE /CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Keystate also uses multiple con crete suppliers, as it works through out the region. One recently de clined an order because Keystate was not a large enough customer for the supplier to take the order. But Keystate was able to go else where.

Bill Sanderson, a principal at the Team WS building and land devel opment consultancy in Lakewood, said a common phrase among home builders now is, “Where’s the damn concrete?”

On the construction of a residen tial subdivision, he said, a question from the local suburb’s building de partment threw one job o sched ule.

“We couldn’t schedule installing curbing for a week,” Sanderson said. “Small contractors sometimes can’t ful ll small orders, such as for ve cubic yards of concrete to nish a sidewalk. And it all means there will be no impetus for concrete prices to go down.”

Rob Myers, president of the HBA Cleveland trade group for home builders, called cement and con crete woes “a symptom, not the ill ness. And it’s only going to get worse.” He said many HBA mem bers have had delivery problems. Myers expects the crunch to grow in October and November as con struction contractors of all types rush to get pours nished before the winter hits, which a ects most users.

e nature of the con struction business means that large vol ume customers, espe cially larger construc tion contractors or businesses, will be able to function better than smaller ones. But it’s changing the game for many.

Greg Przepiora, a vice president at Donley’s Inc. of Gar eld Heights, said even for a company active in multiple states, there is less exibil ity than in the past.

“You can’t call and get concrete,” Przepiora said. “In the past, if you wanted to push a pour or change a date, you could. Concrete suppliers don’t have the ability to do that now. ey are only getting so much material.”

Mac Donley, Donley’s CEO, said the company has had fewer prob lems than others because some of its relationships with suppliers go back 80 years.

“We’ve already seen allocations in North and South Carolina,” Don ley said. “It’s not just Cleveland. We often have commitments with sup pliers that may go out as much as 18 months. It’s your ability to pour that is being compromised. at is go ing to be a problem for the industry. We have been able to navigate it successfully, but your scheduling become more critical than before.”

George Palko, president and CEO of Great Lakes Construction Co., said the heavy construction company based in Hinckley has found some of its suppliers have had their deliveries cut in half.

“We have had to delay large con crete pours,” Palko said. “We have to schedule two to three weeks in the future. We did that anyway, but now we have to do it more diligently.”

He expects the problem to in crease through the balance of the year.

“Everybody wants their jobs done yesterday,” Palko said. “Any time you delay one, it sets you back as we get closer to the end of the calendar year. Everyone knows that snow is around the corner.” Some contractors may be able to contin ue working, but it depends on the type of job and how many additives — or what additives — they might add to their concrete mix.

Concrete is commonly described as the most widely used construc tion material in the world. So a shortage, in part due to a U.S. con struction boom expected to grow with additional federal spending on roads, highways and bridges, will be a sizable challenge.

With a widespread labor short age bedeviling construction con tractors large and small, some dra conian cuts already have been made.

Paul Metcalf, president and business representative of Cement Masons Local 404 in Cleveland, which serves Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake and Lo rain counties, said about a half-dozen members have been laid o because contractors expect to have reduced workloads due to the cement shortage.

“By the next day, they were work ing again,” Metcalf said. “ e vol ume of work is so strong now that no one is not working. I’m im pressed about the volume of con struction in our city. e forecast for work is phenomenal. I’m hop ing that after things slow down during the winter, the mar ket will be better next year.”

Even so, game plans on projects are changing.

“From our end, it’s all about planning,” Palko said. “We can’t produce cement ourselves. We have to com municate better and plan better with our partners.”

Tonelli, who co-owns Engineered Construction with his brother Randall, said he believes his company has been treated better than some other con tractors because of the volume of concrete it uses — sometimes as much as 15 loads a day.

“We’ll take concrete when we can get it,” Tonelli said. “We’ve re cently started pouring walls at 6:30 p.m. And we usually have a 7 a.m. start. is ampli es the problem getting workers. Concrete pump trucks have headlights on them, and we’ll have guys throw light on the job from their (car or truck) headlights.”

In the case of Keystate’s Gotlieb, he has been told supplies of con crete blocks may become con strained. So he’s considering using brick instead of concrete block in some spots. Keystate also is consid ering suggesting that customers consider using asphalt instead of concrete for driveways “even though I don’t want to do it,” he said.

Where lumber supply and pric ing can be dealt with by using other materials, such as metal framing, there are parts of a building that no substitute for concrete will work, such as in foundations.

“You can’t do a footer (part of the foundation that meets the dirt) out of asphalt,” Gotlieb said.

Myers agrees the problems the shortage poses are considerable.

“You can’t just pour three-quar ters of a basement,” he said.

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

Cavs grab eight of top 10 spots on highest-paid athletes list

JOE SCALZO

is year’s list of highest-paid athletes in Cleveland comes with an asterisk.

Or, more accurately, it comes with a 6-foot-2, 215-pound elephant in the room.

While newly acquired Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell has broken the four-year stranglehold at the top held by Cavs forward Kevin Love, the athlete with the city’s biggest contract doesn’t appear in the top 50, yet casts a shadow bigger than the Terminal Tower.

And, like Mitchell, he hasn’t even played a game yet.

e Cleveland Browns made his tory in March when they signed quarterback Deshaun Watson to a fully guaranteed ve-year contract worth $230 million. It was not only the largest guarantee in NFL history, it was structured so that Watson would make just $1.035 million in his rst season with Cleveland.

salary in 2022 — or about 40% of the base salary of center Ethan Pocic, who is barely a household name in his own household, much less Cleveland.

In fact, due to the unusual struc ture of NFL contracts, only one Browns player appears on this year’s top 10 list, which is dominated as usual by the Cavaliers. NFL contracts don’t contain the full guarantees that NBA and MLB deals do, and players rely on signing bonuses (which are spread out over the life of a contract for salary-cap purposes) and roster bonuses to pad their earnings.

Eight of the top 10 spots on this year’s list are held by Cavaliers, be ginning with Mitchell, who came over in a blockbuster trade with the Utah Jazz on Sept. 1. Mitchell is set to make $30,351,780 this season in the second season of a ve-year, $163 million contract he signed be fore the 2021-22 season.

($8,920,795) and forward Evan Mob ley ($8,478,720). LeVert is in the last year of his deal, while Garland’s salary will jump to $33.5 million next fall af ter signing a ve-year, $194 million extension this summer.

Guard Jack Conklin, the lone Brown in the top 10 with a $8 mil lion salary, has yet to appear in a game this year as he works his way back from a torn patellar tendon that he su ered in late November.

e nal two spots in the top 10 belong to Cavaliers who may be on the bubble for next season: forward Cedi Osman ($7.4 million) and Isaac Okoro ($7.04 million).

Whether the Browns did that to protect Watson’s salary from an NFL suspension or whether it was busi ness as usual for a franchise that has done similar deals for Denzel Ward, Myles Garrett and David Njoku (among others) is better left to a Twitter argument that will leave ev eryone feeling better about the world and their place inside it. at said, listing the 50 high est-paid athletes in Cleveland and not including Watson feels … strange. Due to his 11-game suspension, Wat son will make just $402,500 in base

Mitchell actually would have ranked No. 2 on last year’s list behind Love, who will make $28,942,830 in the nal year of the four-year, $120 million extension he signed in 2018. Love made $31,258,256 each of the previous two seasons.

ird baseman Jose Ramirez ($22 million) is once again the only Guard ians player in the top 10, although pitcher Shane Bieber ($6 million) is 11th. Ramirez signed a $141 million contract in April that runs through 2028, so he’ll be on this list for years to come.

OH_Crains_2022-23.qxp_Layout 1 9/14/22 8:29 AM Page 1

e Cavaliers occupy spots 4-7 thanks to center Jarrett Allen ($20 mil lion), guard Caris LeVert ($18,796,296), guard Darius Garland

Only four of this year’s highest earners made last year’s top 10: Love, Allen, Conklin and Ramirez. Of the six that dropped o the top 10 list, four are no longer playing in Cleve land: Cavs forward Lauri Markkanen (who was traded to Utah in the Mitchell deal), Browns receivers Odell Beckham Jr. (who won a Super Bowl with the Rams last year and is a free agent) and Jarvis Landry (now with the New Orleans Saints), and retired center J.C. Tretter.

e other two are Cavs guard Ricky Rubio (who dropped from No. 3 to 12th) and Browns guard Joel Bi tonio (No. 8 to No. 17).

e Browns (26) and Cavs (14) ac count for the majority of the top 50, which includes 10 Guardians play ers. e full digital list is available to Crain’s Data Members.

Joe Scalzo: joe.scalzo@crain.com, (216) 771-5256, @JoeScalzo01

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11 SHANEBIEBER, 27 Pitcher, Guardians $6,000,000$6,000,000$6,000,000$6,000,0001 2022 2018University of California, Santa Barbara

12

RICKYRUBIO, 31 Guard, Cavaliers $5,853,659$5,853,659$5,853,659$18,439,0263 2025 2011 4 NA

13 AMEDROSARIO, 26 Shortstop, Guardians $4,950,000$4,950,000$4,950,000$4,950,0001 2022 2017NA

14 DYLANWINDLER, 26 Guard, Cavaliers $4,037,278$4,037,278$4,037,278$10,449,7184 2023 2019Belmont University

15 JOHNJOHNSONIII, 26 Safety, Browns $4,000,000$7,750,000$10,750,000 5 $33,750,0003 2023 2017Boston College

16 AUSTINHEDGES, 30 Catcher, Guardians $4,000,000$4,000,000$4,000,000$4,000,0001 2022 2015NA

17 JOELBITONIO, 30 Guard, Browns

$3,058,824$6,658,824$10,558,824 6 $48,000,0003 2025 2014University of Nevada

18 BRYANSHAW, 34 Pitcher, Guardians $3,000,000$3,000,000$3,000,000$3,000,000 7 1 7 2022 7 2011California State University, Long Beach

19 ROBINLOPEZ, 34 Center, Cavaliers $2,905,851$1,836,090$2,905,851$2,905,8511 2023 2008Stanford University

20 CALQUANTRILL, 27 Pitcher, Guardians $2,510,000$2,510,000$2,510,000$2,510,0001 2022 2019Stanford University

21 CHRISHUBBARD, 31 O ensive tackle, Browns $2,470,000$1,272,500$2,622,500$2,622,5001 2022 2013University of Alabama at Birmingham

22 RAULNETO, 30 Guard, Cavaliers $2,463,490$1,836,090$2,463,490$2,463,4901 2023 2013NA

23 JEDRICKWILLSJR., 23 O ensive tackle, Browns

$2,401,174$5,373,522$2,401,174$19,702,9144 2023 2020University of Alabama

24 JOEHAEG, 29 O ensive tackle, Browns $2,100,000$2,100,000$2,100,000$2,100,0001 2022 2016North Dakota State University

25 TAVENBRYAN, 26 Defensive tackle, Browns $2,000,000$3,941,180$3,941,180$4,000,0001 2022 2018University of Florida

26 ZACHPLESAC, 27 Pitcher, Guardians

$2,000,000$2,000,000$2,000,000$2,000,0001 2022 2019Ball State University

27 DEANWADE, 25 Forward, Cavaliers $1,930,681$1,930,681$1,930,681$5,606,2834 2023 2019Kansas State University

28 LAMARSTEVENS, 25 Forward, Cavaliers $1,782,621 8 $1,782,621 8 $1,782,621 8 $3,952,968 8 3 8 2023 8 2020Penn State University

29

JACOBYBRISSETT, 29 Quarterback, Browns

$1,500,000$4,650,000$4,650,000$4,650,0001 2022 2016North Carolina State University

30 WYATTTELLER, 27 Guard, Browns $1,500,000$4,426,300$10,500,000 9 $56,800,0004 2025 2018Virginia Tech

31 EMMANUELCLASE, 24 Pitcher, Guardians $1,500,000$1,900,000$3,500,000$20,000,000 7 5 7 2026 7 2019NA

32

KAREEMHUNT, 27 Running back, Browns $1,350,000$6,250,000$6,250,000$12,000,0002 2022 2017University of Toledo

33 GREEDYWILLIAMS, 24 Cornerback, Browns $1,325,728$2,055,033$1,375,728$6,458,6764 2019Louisiana State University , 2023 2020Louisiana State University , $1,250,000$3,467,647$10,000,000$10,000,0001 2022 2014University of South Carolina , 27

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suburbs. “It’s right there. And it’s huge. … We thought maybe there was a way to reorient it in the eyes of the greater community.”

at stretch of South Taylor holds promise for Cleveland Heights, a city that’s seeing a wave of development proposals after years of scant activity. But it’s also a prime example of the challenges that built-out communi ties face in assembling sites to attract fresh investment.

e city acquired the Taylor Tu dors after a lengthy tax-foreclosure process.

An adjacent property, the Taylor Road Synagogue at 1970 Taylor Road, has been embroiled in litigation since 2016 and is the subject of a tax-foreclosure claim. With more than $5 million in unpaid taxes, in terest and fees, the synagogue carries the second-largest delinquency in Cuyahoga County, public records show.

“It’s a problem,” said Mayor Kah lil Seren. “It’s a historic problem. It’s something that is longstanding and not something that, in my view, we should be proud of continuing for so long in the city and the re gion. … It also presents an opportu nity, in this case. The positive side of it is what I’m choosing to focus on.”

WXZ’s plans center on the Taylor Tudors, a matching set of three-story buildings constructed in the late 1920s as commercial anchors for a growing neighborhood. But the proj ect team, which includes real estate agent Bob Zimmer, marketing con sultant Little Jacket and Cleve land-based Historic Preservation Group LLC, also is eying the syna gogue and other nearby properties.

Documents submitted to the city depict two new buildings, with 208

GOLF

From Page 1

e club went through what Ahuja called “a friendly bankruptcy to get it cleaned out,” and he spent his own money to update the clubhouse, the oors, the wallpaper and the furni ture, while making upgrades to the course’s sand traps, tee boxes, cart paths and irrigation.

He also set out to change the cul ture of the management and the em ployees, setting higher standards for dress and behavior.

“When you do that, 90% of them will rise up,” he said. “If you treat them right, they’ll treat you right.”

Barrington stayed open during the winter and spring renovations, and by the time the busy summer season arrived, “people were awed by how much it had changed and how won derful it became.”

“We started getting members back rather quickly and, 10 years later, we’re pretty much full. Now they’re building new homes there because the club turned out to be a phenome nal part of the community.”

e best part? In 10 years, Ahuja has never charged the members an assessment to cover the cost of the renovations. Yes, annual dues have increased over the past decade, but the bill for the club’s transformation was covered by growing its member ship and increasing the revenue from events, food and golf. Membership in all categories has increased by ap proximately 90% since 2011.

“It became a very successful in

apartments over commercial space, in place of Taylor Commons, a retail strip on the other side of South Tay lor. e buildings would conceal a

building, with the sanctuary pre served as a performance space, an indoor counterpart to the amphithe ater nestled in Cain Park.

ure out not so much what we can make this — but how to enhance it,” Soltis said.

Zimmer, who is working with WXZ to pursue additional real estate, is particularly enthusiastic about the for-sale housing part of the project.

“Owner-occupancy is important to strengthen and grow neighborhoods. It can’t be all rental,” said Zimmer, who also is involved with redevelop ment e orts in Cleveland, where he serves as president of the Baseball Heritage Museum in Hough.

Cleveland Heights o cials re ceived four responses to their request for proposals on the Taylor Tudor buildings, Seren said. He described the others as “solid” historic-preser vation plans.

“But once we saw what could be possible there, as a result of this re sponse from WXZ, we knew we couldn’t turn our backs on that,” the mayor said.

roughly 380-space parking garage in tended to serve the district. Wymer said WXZ has a deal with the shop ping center’s current owner, an a li ate of Cleveland-based Paran Man agement Co.

Preliminary oor plans for the syn agogue show apartments in the classroom and o ce portions of the

vestment, both in nancial success, as well as the success of the club,” Ahuja said.

Others took notice, which is why Ahuja was approached four years ago about buying May eld Sand Ridge Club, a private country club that has two courses: Bertie Way-designed May eld in South Euclid and Lynd hurst, and Tom Fazio-designed Sand Ridge in Chardon.

As he did with Barrington, Ahuja invested his own money in upgrades. May eld got a full-scale clubhouse renovation to the interior and exteri or, including a new roof, new furni ture and remodeling of the locker rooms. He also invested in improve ments to both golf courses including fairways, rough, sand traps, cart paths and irrigation.

“Many country clubs are owned by the members … and it when it comes time for big improvements to the golf course or building a new pool com plex or putting a new roof on the club, they assess the members,” said Dan DeCrow, who has been GM of the May eld Sand Ridge Club since April after spending seven years as the GM of Signature of Solon Country Club. “So if you need a million dollars and that money is not in reserve, you might get a $10,000 assessment at the end of the year to pay X, Y and Z.

“So, to have a private owner never make any assessments in 10 years at Barrington and four years (at May eld), that’s something the member ship appreciates, but it also shows the health of the club.”

When Ahuja bought May eld Sand Ridge in 2018, membership had

RDL’s drawings also show two-dozen forsale townhomes on nearby land, a pedes trian plaza and a new, stepped-down en trance to the park, overlooking a popular sledding hill. at approach, in cluding a hybrid stairand-ramp feature called a stramp, would make the park much more ac cessible and liven up an area that, in the 1920s, was earmarked for a stadi um that never materialized, said Greg Soltis, a senior designer at Shak er Heights-based RDL.

“When we were looking at the neighborhood, we were trying to g

e images are detailed, but they aren’t nal. ey’re starting points for conversations with neighbors and ongoing negotiations with the city.

Residents already have said they’d like to see the project include tness facilities, coworking, a bookseller or hardware store and an ice cream shop — perhaps a kosher one, since the socially and economically di verse area is home to a sizable Ortho dox Jewish community.

“Let’s be honest: is corridor is overlooked,” said Roger Frank, man aging partner at Little Jacket, a Cleve land-based rm handling communi ty engagement e orts. “It’s a major corridor. It’s another gateway to our city. And we have major historical as sets here that can be protected and revitalized.”

In July, Cleveland Heights City Council approved legislation allow ing the city to enter a long-term lease agreement with WXZ for the Taylor Tudors. at vote came more than four years after the city acquired the rst of the three buildings — and just over two years after the district, a nearly 7-acre area once called Stadi um Square, was added to the Nation al Register of Historic Places at the city’s behest.

Cleveland Heights gained control of the remaining Taylor Tudor build ings in November. After failing to sell at a sheri ’s auction, the once-grand properties ended up in state forfei ture. e Cuyahoga Land Bank re quested them and passed them along to the city, records show.

“I grew up in that neighborhood,” said Gus Frangos, president of the land bank, which is formally known as the Cuyahoga County Land Reuti lization Corp. “And to me, that’s go ing to be such an impressive project if they can move it forward.”

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

course was ready at the time.

“I was approached again about six months ago, and I said I think it’s time to do something,” he said. “Hopefully, it will lead into some thing bigger.”

ere are 12 di erent qualifying sites for the rst stage of the Korn Ferry Tour’s Q school and, of the 12, Sand Ridge was the No. 1 requested course by the players, according to the course’s head pro, Garrett Korte. Since Sand Ridge’s membership has access to both courses, they’ll still have a place to play during the quali er.

“Plus, any time you host a profes sional event, it makes the members feel good to have the pros on their home course,” DeCrow said.

Is Ahuja done acquiring golf cours es? Well, before he bought May eld Sand Ridge, he considered acquiring Signature of Solon (and ended up hiring away its general manager in stead). He’s not looking for a fourth course, but he wasn’t looking for the rst three, either.

dropped from approximately 600 to 475. Today, membership in all cate gories stands at 680, with room for more.

“It’s all been word of mouth,” said Ahuja, whose clubs got a boost from the COVID-19 pandemic, when peo ple were drawn to safe outdoor activ ities like golf. “We’ve not done any marketing or advertising. It’s not very classy to beg people to become a member. But by building up the qual ity of the club, there’s more (word of

mouth). More people are approach ing us than us approaching them to become a member.

“Happy members are the greatest source of new members.”

It’s not just members who are im pressed. From Sept. 27 to Sept. 30, Sand Ridge will host a qualifying tournament for the Korn Ferry Tour, the developmental tour for the PGA Tour. Ahuja said he was approached about hosting a quali er soon after buying the club, but didn’t feel the

“People tell me I’m a turnaround guy,” Ahuja said. “I started from al most nothing and built my own busi ness (Transtar) into the largest busi ness (of its kind) in the country. And the most important part was that it was known for being the best man aged with the best quality people. It became the standard of the industry.

“My driving force is, I like to do ev erything that not only feels right, but is right.”

Joe Scalzo: joe.scalzo@crain.com, (216) 771-5256, @JoeScalzo01

Monte Ahuja has invested heavily to boost membership in May eld Sand Ridge Club over the past four years. | JOE SCALZO/CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

A rendering looking north along Taylor Road in Cleveland Heights shows the restored Taylor Tudor buildings and a glimpse of ground-up construction planned across the street.

| RDL ARCHITECTS

“IT’S A MAJOR CORRIDOR. IT’S ANOTHER GATEWAY TO OUR CITY. AND WE HAVE MAJOR HISTORICAL ASSETS HERE THAT CAN BE PROTECTED AND REVITALIZED.”

—Roger Frank, managing partner at Little Jacket

TRANSITION AHEAD: e board of the MetroHealth System selected Airica Steed to serve as the next president and CEO of the health system, e ective Jan. 1. Steed, currently an executive in the Sinai Chicago Health System, will succeed Dr. Akram Boutros, who last year announced plans to retire when his contract ends at the end of 2022. He has led MetroHealth since 2013. After a nationwide search that considered several excellent candidates for the CEO role, the board unanimously agreed that Steed was “the right leader to take MetroHealth forward, particularly as we open e Glick Center, our new hospital, and to increase our impact on our community’s health,” said Vanessa Whiting, MetroHealth’s board chair. Steed is executive vice president and system chief operating o cer of Sinai Chicago Health System, an urban academic health care system focused on health equity and eradicating health care disparities, goals that mirror MetroHealth’s mission. e system serves 1.5 million patients.

FLIGHT PLAN: Cleveland Hopkins International Airport will o er the rst daily nonstop ight to Europe in more than a decade, according to legislation outlining plans for a $600,000 grant to Aer Lingus posted on the Cleveland City Council legislation site. e direct ight from Cleveland to Dublin, Ireland, would be backed by the economic development grant agreement between the city and Team NEO as part of a statewide JobsOhio program, language of the legislation published ursday, Sept. 22, stated. Council would need to approve a three-year incentive package. A start date and travel times for the Dublin service have not been released. e new service would be the rst new non-

stop trans-Atlantic ight since 2018, when Hopkins o ered a direct ight to Iceland, and the rst direct European ight since 2009, when service to and from London was canceled.

BET ON IT: When it comes to sports gambling, the Cleveland Guardians and the Cavaliers are in the game — o cially. e Cleveland Guardians Baseball Co. LLC, the Cavaliers Operating Co. LLC and North eld Park Associates LLC received approval for Type A (mobile) and Type B (brick-and-mortar sportsbook) sports gaming proprietor licenses at the Ohio Casino Control Commission’s (OCCC) meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 21. All three will be able to o er sports betting when it becomes legal in Ohio on Jan. 1, 2023. e Cleveland Browns, the downtown JACK casino and the JACK istledown racino received Type A and Type B approval at an OCCC meeting earlier this month.

IN THE MONEY: Champ Titles, a Cleveland-based startup working to digitize the vehicle registration process and related documents through blockchain-powered technology, announced the close of a $12.9 million Series B investment round.

With this latest fundraise, the company has collected $31.4 million in funding over four investment rounds, according to Crunchbase. Champ Titles was founded in 2018 as one of the startups backed by Ownum, a sort of tech incubator launched by luxury-auto-dealer-turned-blockchain-evangelist Bernie Moreno.

DYNAMIC DUO: DigitalC, a nonpro t focused on bridging Cleveland’s digital divide, is getting a new CEO and is creating a chief operating o cer position. e organization on Monday, Sept. 19, announced it has named Cleveland-area native Joshua Edmonds as CEO and telecom veteran Jose Valdez to the COO post. Edmonds will start in his role Nov. 1. Valdez will begin as COO on Monday, Sept. 26. Edmonds, who was a Public Service Fellow for the Cleveland Foundation Public Service Fellowship, comes to DigitalC from the city of Detroit, where he was that city’s rst director of digital inclusion. Valdez, a military veteran, most recently worked at DISH Wireless, where he was lead of integration and testing engineering for wireless 5G core.

An Airbus A320, operated by Aer Lingus, takes-o from Dublin Airport. | BLOOMBERG

C&S Companies

Matthew Wenham, P.E., ENV SP, has been selected to lead C&S Companies national aviation practice. His experience includes planning, design, and construction of all aspects of airport improvement projects, including leading design teams at the country’s largest airports. Wenham is a vice president of the rm with 25 years of experience in aviation consulting, all with C&S. Wenham is a licensed professional engineer in numerous states and Envision Sustainability Professional.

Hickman & Lowder Co., L.P.A.

Hickman & Lowder is pleased to announce that Helen L. Rapp joined the rm as a new associate in August 2022. Helen will focus on helping people with disabilities and their families and will join the special needs estate planning group and the special education law group. She comes to the rm from The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland and is a graduate of Cleveland Marshall College of Law (J.D., summa cum laude).

LAW

Minc Law

Internet defamation law rm Minc Law is proud to announce the addition of attorneys Michele McBride Simonelli and Nathan Woodward

Michele McBride Simonelli brings more than two decades of experience representing businesses and individuals in both the private and public sectors domestically and internationally.

Michele earned her law degree from ClevelandMarshall College of Law.

Nate Woodward has represented government entities, businesses and individuals in a broad range of pre-litigation disputes and complex legal matters including business and personal defamation, intellectual property, business contract disagreements, insurance coverage, and personal injury. Nate earned his law degree from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.

LAW

Seeley, Savidge, Ebert, Gourash Co., LPA

Seeley, Savidge, Ebert & Gourash is pleased to announce that Attorney Andrea C. Kryszak and her paralegal, Emily L. Lockhart, have joined the rm, and will focus on representation of clients in Estate Planning and Trust and Estate Administration.

Kryszak has been a practicing attorney for 18 years and has owned her own practice in Lorain County for the past 8 years.

TECHNOLOGY

Inversion6

V2 Technology North eld Center, OH 330.908.0522 www.v2portal.com

V2 Technology announces the establishment of a cyber advisory council to support small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) with cybersecurity. The V2 MyCIO® - Cyber Advisory Council will monitor trends and serve as a cybersecurity thought leader and community outreach provider for midmarket companies in Ohio. V2 is bringing together key stakeholders from various industries in its ght against cybercrime. The Council includes representation from information technology, legal, banking, nancial, insurance, and law enforcement industries. Speci c members include: V2 Technology, Brennan Manna Diamond, West eld Bank, Oswald Companies, and input from the FBI. Look for programming to start in Q4.

LAW

Minc Law

Internet defamation law rm Minc Law is proud to announce the addition of attorney

Susan Jacobsen

Susan Jacobsen’s background in cybersecurity, technology, data privacy and advocacy during and after graduating from law school enables her to provide creative solutions and unique insight when handling defamation and privacy issues for Minc Law clients. Susan earned her law degree from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and her bachelor degree from Winona State University.

Veteran cybersecurity leader, Craig Burland, has joined cyber security IT company Inversion6 (formerly MRK Technologies) as a Chief Information Security Of cer (CISO). In this role, he will work directly with the rm’s clients, building and managing security programs, as well as advising them on cybersecurity strategy and best practices. The announcement comes on the heels of the company’s rebranding and focus on expanding its legacy of strong managed IT solutions for companies of all sizes.

Consolidated Graphics Group, Inc., d/b/a Consolidated Solutions has purchased assets of Eveready Printing, Inc. Founded in 1900, Eveready shares the same commitment to its clients that is the foundation of Consolidated’s continued growth. As a newly formed Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) Company, Consolidated is excited to welcome 7 Eveready employees, bringing its total to 150. Consolidated is a full-service technology and marketing production company that provides services to healthcare, insurance, retail and real estate clients. THE

Still time to register for Health Care Forum

BY CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Consolidated Solutions Cleveland, OH 216.881.9191 www.csinc.com

ere is still time to register to attend the Crain’s Health Care Forum.

Registration information is here. e event takes place ursday, Sept. 29, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Cleveland Marriott Downtown, 360 West Mall Drive in Cleveland.

e topic of this year’s health care summit is Workforce Solutions. e pandemic and economic disruptions exacerbated ongoing shortages of health care workers. How can employers recruit, train and retain the talent they desperately need to ll an unprecedented number of open jobs? e problem demands creativity and collaboration. At this year’s Health Care Forum, hear from experts and join the discussion about how to grow the next — and current — generation of health care workers.

Dr. Akram Boutros, president and CEO of the MetroHealth System, will be the keynote speaker for the event.

Under his leadership, MetroHealth has grown to more than 20 community health centers, four hospitals, ve MetroExpressCare locations and 10 pharmacies.

ose are in addition to MetroHealth’s main-campus medical center, which is home to the area’s most experienced Level I Adult Trauma Center, Ohio’s only Ebola Treatment Center, and the only adult and pediatric trauma and burn center in the state.

During his tenure, MetroHealth’s annual revenue grew from $785 million to more than $1.5 billion. MetroHealth now treats more than 300,000 patients at more than 1.5 million visits a year. Since 2013, the health system has created more than 1,800 new jobs, sent doctors into more than a dozen local schools and received the largest donation in its history — $42 million from JoAnn and Bob Glick.

Individual tickets are $100. e ticket price includes lunch.

LAW

Woodward

Simonelli

ADVISORY COUNCIL

Dr. Akram Boutros, president and CEO of the MetroHealth System

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Dr. Akram Boutros, MD, FACHE President and Chief Executive Officer of The MetroHealth System