Skylight Financial Group plans to move offices, 100 jobs to Ohio City from downtown Cleveland

The firm, which expects to move by April, will occupy nearly 18,000 square feet -- including a glassy 10th-floor penthouse being planned by developer MRN Ltd.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.View full sizeA financial-planning firm plans to move its offices and 100 workers from downtown Cleveland to the nine-story United Bank Building in Ohio City. Skylight Financial Group will occupy the ninth floor and a 10th-floor penthouse, which developer MRN Ltd. plans to build before April 2014.Thomas Ondrey, The Plain Dealer 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A financial-planning firm and roughly 100 workers plan to leave downtown Cleveland for Ohio City's West 25th Street, in the first significant white-collar migration to a neighborhood better known for bar-hopping and butchery.

Skylight Financial Group, a privately owned business affiliated with Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., has signed a 10-year lease on the top floor of the United Bank Building at West 25th and Lorain Avenue.

The firm, which expects to move by April, will occupy nearly 18,000 square feet -- including a glassy 10th-floor penthouse being planned by developer MRN Ltd.

Leaving downtown, where Skylight is nestled in the Skylight Office Tower at Tower City, is an unusual move for a traditional office user. And the Ohio City neighborhood, with limited office space and eclectic buildings, tends to attract more pint-size companies and nonprofit tenants.

But Skylight's executives see an opportunity to stand out, to contribute to the revitalization of an urban neighborhood just west of the central business district.

"I guess, by definition, entrepreneurship requires risk, right?" said Dan Brennan, Skylight's chief marketing officer. "We believe that if you're going to set yourself apart from your competition, there are only two ways you can do it. And that's to either be first or to be different."

Skylight offers financial-planning services, such as investment advice and retirement planning, and sells MassMutual products including life insurance. With a lease expiration looming at the Skylight Office Tower, the company decided to pursue other space, in hopes of shaking off any stodginess and recruiting more young professionals.

Brennan said the decision came down to two locations: Ohio City or PlayhouseSquare, the theater district toward the east side of downtown. Skylight President Paul Fox and other leaders chose West 25th because of an opportunity to make a big splash in a small office market.

"Financially, it was about the same," Brennan said of the two locations. "So where could we go and bring additional vitality and bring more density to the business climate? There really hasn't been this size of a business entity locating in what has predominantly been an eating and entertainment area."

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.View full sizeA rendering shows the planned penthouse atop the United Bank Building in Ohio City. Skylight Financial Group has signed a 10-year lease on nearly 18,000 square feet, including the ninth floor and the future penthouse.SAgroup LLC, MRN Ltd.

Developer Ari Maron, a principal with MRN, said his family has been waiting for the right anchor business to round out the United Bank Building, which is sometimes called the United Office Building.

The Marons restored the historic, half-empty building, which sits cattycorner from the West Side Market, and brought in tenants including Crop Bistro & Bar, Penzeys Spices and the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board of Cuyahoga County.

After the Skylight deal, the building is 95 percent leased, Maron said. Two former Skylight affiliates, an independently owned mortgage company and accounting firm, are following the company from downtown to Ohio City and will fill empty space on the United Bank Building's fourth floor.

"This is an anchor in every definition of what that word means for development," Maron said. "It's an anchor economically. ... These are guys that get cities and that integrate themselves into the community. So it couldn't be a better fit."

The Cleveland Landmarks Commission will see plans for the building renovations next week. Skylight's penthouse will be set back, so it won't change the appearance of the historic building from the street. But it will offer a sweeping view of the neighborhood, downtown and Lake Erie.

Skylight did not ask for any incentives for the move, and MRN is not using public money for the project. The United Bank Building previously won tax credits for historic preservation, which were used to restore the building and the ornate bank lobby.

"It's great to have breweries," said Joe Cimperman, the Cleveland councilman who was part of a neighborhood effort to woo Skylight. "But these are people who are going to be creating income and revenues for restaurants to be open during the day. They're not asking for a liquor license. They're not looking for any handouts. ... And if these people shop at the West Side Market once a week, I'll be happy."

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Clik here to view.View full sizeThe roof of the United Bank Building, sometimes called the United Office Building, offers sweeping views of the Ohio City neighborhood, downtown Cleveland and Lake Erie. The clock tower at the West Side Market is in the foreground of this photo.Thomas Ondrey, The Plain Dealer

Brennan said the biggest hurdle, for Skylight and its workers, was parking. The Marons control about 180 parking spaces in the neighborhood and expect to use a valet system to squeeze as many as 240 cars into those lots.

Still, Cimperman anticipates more discussions about parking, since MRN hopes to demolish the shuttered Club Envy building, at 2132 W. 25th St., to provide more surface spaces for Skylight.

Eric Wobser, executive director of the Ohio City Inc. development group, believes the Skylight lease will encourage other office tenants to consider the neighborhood. But he expects most of the growth in Ohio City will continue to come from housing, restaurants and small stores, playing off the downtown office market rather than drawing from it.

"We see this as a major deal in the trajectory of the neighborhood," he said, adding,  "This is a big deal for Ohio City. It's a drop in the bucket for downtown."