Today Quicken Loans, a retail mortgage lender, announced a long-term lease with the historic Higbee Building in Cleveland, and thus doubling its footprint in the downtown area.
Never heard of Higbee's? You maybe saw it featured prominently in the seasonal-hit film A Christmas Story.
The company will relocate its over 400 full-time employees from the M.K. Ferguson building to the fourth and fifth floors of the Higbee building in late June. In the meantime, the space is undergoing a $7 million renovation with help from local contractors.
“Over the past 10 years, we have built a team of hard-working Clevelanders who are passionate about two things, delivering our clients the best mortgage experience possible and continuing the momentum taking place in downtown Cleveland,” said Jeff Perry, Quicken Loans’ Cleveland office vice president and site leader.
“Our move to the Higbee Building will be big boosts to both of these objectives, allowing more room for our team to grow while contributing to the transformation of downtown Cleveland,” Perry said.
The current Quicken Loans Cleveland web center opened in 2006 with 50 employees from Detroit, Michigan. Now, most of its team members are Cleveland residents. The move will allow more space for the company’s growing number of employees.
The company’s current office in downtown Cleveland was named one of the city’s top workplaces for the past five consecutive years.
Cleveland’s web center was its first web center outside of Michigan.
The building’s current $7 million renovation will include many architectural elements original to the building. The retail theme in store for the building will give tribute to the building’s original use as Higbee’s department Store.
The interior will be designed with amenities-centric landscape, contemporary furniture and an open floor plan in order to encourage team collaboration. In fact, Quicken Loans is known for its creative design at its office spaces.
