From the Desk of the COO
Today is the last day at our office on West 3rd St here in downtown Cleveland. Come Monday morning the new headquarters for Stark Enterprises will be located on the 12th and 13th floor of the National City Bank Building at 629 Euclid Ave (above Marble Room for all of you foodies out there). While we are very excited to get settled and break in our new digs, it’s definitely a bittersweet moment.
First and foremost, our West 3rd office represents a major milestone for our company as it marked our transition from the suburbs – we were previously located in Beachwood, OH – into downtown Cleveland back in 2007. That’s a big move for any business, but for a real estate development company like ours it had much bigger implications. Namely, it signified our intentions to continue to grow, expand into new territories, and face new challenges from directly inside the heart of Ohio’s biggest job center.
It also afforded us a more centralized home base to conduct and manage all of our operations throughout greater Cleveland. From Crocker Park on the west side, to Eton Chagrin Boulevard on the east, to The Strip and Portage Crossing down south, and beyond, our move to the city center facilitated a strategically placed mission control center to effectively handle our growing stable of properties. More importantly, however, as new downtown workplace residents it allowed us to connect and form a closer relationship with the city of Cleveland.
As the epicenter of all things Northeast Ohio, it was imperative that we not just develop new properties in and around the city, but become part of the fabric of the city itself. In order to help Cleveland’s ongoing transition from a rust-belt city to a revived, revitalized, and modern destination, it was necessary to live and breathe the culture and collaborate with other people and businesses who share our mission to create incredible new experiences for everyone in our great city. Immersing ourselves in the community core has been a fantastic experience and a worthwhile one.
The past 12 years on the corner of West 3rd and St. Clair have been incredible … challenging no doubt, but incredible. From this office space we have proposed, planned, and delivered a lot of innovative new projects, and seen some extraordinary developments come to fruition, including multiple additions and expansions to Crocker Park and Eton Chagrin Boulevard, as well as the construction of our first downtown development The Beacon which is set to open very soon. We have also expanded our portfolio to 10 states across the country, crossing over into new territory with residential student housing, and other modern mixed-use projects.
As with most moves, we will definitely miss our old space and all of the experiences we had together as a team. Not to mention the historic speakeasy lounge we had in the building’s basement. But we moved downtown with the mindset and mission to grow as a company, and thankfully we have accomplished that objective. So, for now it’s onward and upward. Farewell West 3rd, hello Euclid Ave. 
Sincerely,
Ezra Stark, Chief Operating Officer
