Cleveland’s newest skyscraper – the 36-story Sherwin-Williams headquarters under construction just off Public Square – needs some additional fire protection that could delay the company’s plans to move workers into the building.
Construction managers with the global paint company told city officials in the last several weeks that inspectors discovered the anti-fire coating sprayed on some of the building’s steel beams is not thick enough to meet safety standards, a spokesman for the Mayor Justin Bibb’s office told Signal Cleveland. A spokesman for Cleveland’s Division of Fire also confirmed being informed of the issue. Anti-fire coatings help prevent steel from buckling in the event of a fire.
Marie Zickefoose, a spokeswoman for the mayor, said that Sherwin-Williams and the city have “periodic project meetings where they discuss progress and the like.”
She said the company told the city in a meeting during the last month that in a “special inspection process they determined that there would be a need to update the intumescent spray-on coating in some areas.”
Sherwin-Williams acknowledged the issue in a statement to Signal Cleveland but did not address specific questions about how the issue might affect plans to move employees into the 1 million-square-foot building.
“A part of the work on this project involves ongoing collaboration with local building officials to ensure the building meets all applicable commercial building standards, including structural, electrical, plumbing and fire protection system requirements, among other key elements,” wrote Julie S. Young, vice president of Global Corporate Communications. “Inspecting the coating on steel beams is just one element of this work. … We look forward to beginning the multi-phase move to our new facilities later this year.”
The longtime Cleveland company is receiving significant taxpayer money for the project. In 2020, Cleveland City Council and then-Mayor Frank Jackson signed off on $100 million worth of incentives to help Sherwin-Williams build its new headquarters. The incentives include tax-increment financing, or a TIF, which allows a company to use property taxes it would normally pay to the city to instead help pay off the building. This incentive is estimated to be worth $60 million to $75 million over 30 years.
Cleveland also approved a $13.5 million construction grant and a job-creation creation grant worth up to $11.5 million. The company also received incentives from Cuyahoga County and the state.
The company announced last September that it was delaying its tentative move-in date from the end of 2024 to sometime in 2025. The company also said at the time it was delaying the opening of its new research center in Brecksville to sometime in 2025. No reason for the delay was cited, though construction delays are common on big projects.
Sherwin-Williams has said the downtown project will cost $300 million. More than 3,000 employees will work there.
