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Jewish Community Federation

  
        The implementation of the 2008 decision.

Federation's Building Committee had concluded that the purchase and renovation of an existing building would be more effective than new construction. In the CJN report of September 18, 2008 [read story], Federation chair Harley Gross said "The deal to buy the Science Park building, just south of the intersection of Richmond and South Woodland Roads, will close at the end of September." The CJN reporter interviewed Mr. Gross the day after the 9/11/2008 decision. To know then when the deal would close suggests that all the "due diligence" and negotiations had already been done and a contract signed, pending Board approval of course.

Thus, on July 30, 2008, only 19 days after the announcement of the decision to move its operations to Beachwood, a deed was filed [view deed] to record Federation's purchase of the former Lamson and Sessions Building at 25701 Science Park Drive in Beachwood.  Per a story in Crain's Cleveland Business, Federation's Centennial Fund paid $7.2 million for the 68,500 square-foot building. The choice was a simple, impressive looking office building in Science Park in Beachwood, east of Richmond Road and south of South Woodland.

In an October 24, 2008 Cleveland Jewish News story of the purchase quotes Federation Board Chair Harley Gross:

“We purchased the building based on the Sept. 11 vote of the board. This is their direction,” Gross says. “But (the board) committed to maintaining 1750 Euclid Ave. as well. Right now, I’m in the process of appointing a committee to explore how and in what manner we’ll pursue programs to benefit downtown Cleveland and the Jewish population that lives and works downtown.”

It reports that the downtown presence (part of the 9/11/2008 resolution) will be the Community Relations Committee and Federation president Stephen H. Hoffman and that they will also have offices in Beachwood.  [read CJN story]


The Mandel Building
photo Arnold Berger September 2010
 

About this building

The building was constructed in 1984 by Carlon Products, a major manufacturer of plastic sewer pipes and conduit. In 1986 Lamson and Sessions acquired Carlon and moved its headquarters here. In November 2007 Lamson and Sessions was acquired by Thomas & Betts, based in Memphis Tennessee, and another Cleveland-based, NYSE-listed company was gone.

In March 2009 budgetary considerations related to the economic downturn of late 2008 caused Federation to cut its staff from more than 130 to about 100 - still twice the number it employed in 1963.

The July 31, 2009 Cleveland Jewish News quoted Reneé Chelm, chair of the Downtown Vision Committee.  [Read story,]
 

“There will be some Federation office downtown, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be in that (1750 Euclid Ave.) building,” says Chelm. “If we sell the building, we could put the office somewhere else. Or (the Federation presence) may be tied to the building. We just don’t want people to have blinders on, that it has to be at 18th and Euclid.”

In September 2009  Federation announced that the Mandel Family will be granting $16 million to purchase and renovate the Beachwood building. The anouncement stated that "The building, located at 25701 Science Park Drive, was purchased for $7.225 million last October through a Mandel Foundation grant." Source: Federation blog 9/16.2009
 

On October 6, 2009 Federation held what it called a "wall-breaking" ceremony for its new headquarters.

The Cleveland Jewish News story told how the Mandel Family $16 million gift will be used. Building ($7.2 million), construction ($5 million), equipment ($1 million), and “soft” such as architect and consulting fees ($2 million). Read the story, which also discusses plans for the downtown building.

CJN photo of the Mandel brothers:
(l-r) Jack, Joseph and Mort,
and family, with gold-plated hammers
at the wall breaking ceremony. 

 

In April 2010, not part of the move east, but to make such a change after the move would have been wasteful, Federation shortened its name from "Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland" to "Jewish Federation of Cleveland." It was following the example of the national body which in October 2009 changed its name from United Jewish Communities to Jewish Federations of North America, and many other Federations around the nation.  [UJC announcement]
 

In late May 2010, its new logo (shown full size at the right) appeared  on its website. In what we believe is an error in creating the graphic, the words OF CLEVELAND have been reduced to an unreadable size.

In July 2010 Federation reported [read on the Federation website]
 

Thanks to a generous $50,000 grant from the Maltz Family Foundation, the Federation has commissioned an urban planner and tapped Baiju Shah, president and CEO of the high–tech incubator BioEnterprise, to assemble a diverse leadership team to oversee the design of an International Welcome Center, which aims to increase the transition of international workers and their families into Northeast Ohio's economy and community life.

In a July 15, 2010 report Federation President Stephen Hoffman noted that the Welcome Center was one of many ideas competing to be the future use of the 1750 Euclid Avenue building. [read Plain Dealer story].
 

On August 2, 2010 the Jewish Federation of Cleveland opened for business in its new home in Beachwood: the Mandel Building.

Learn more:
● Federation's announcement
● Cleveland Jewish News story

Federation's website will soon have pictures of its new home. We will link to them here.

On August 29, 2010 it was reported that Federation will be leasing its two downtown buildings, at 1750 and 1720 Euclid Avenue, to the Cleveland School District for up to 20 years to become classrooms for juniors and seniors from MC2STEM High School. The school will pay no rent, but will pay all operating costs and renovate the buildings and create classrooms at its expense.  [read Plain Dealer story]  [read Jewish News story] 

If there is to be a Jewish Federation presence in downtown Cleveland, it will have to be elsewhere. ●