In the latest twist of the legacy General Electric lighting group, GE Current, a Daintree company, is looking to set up its global headquarters in Beachwood and exit Nela Park in East Cleveland.
About 120 employees would exit Nela Park if GE Current concludes lease negotiations with Industrial Commercial Properties LLC of Solon to occupy 42,000 square feet at 23550 Commerce Park Drive, according to Joe Cenin, GE Current's chief operating officer.
Cenin said the move would allow GE Current to set up its own offices instead of continuing to lease at Nela Park from GE Lighting, now a unit Savant Systems Inc.
"Technically, we're paying rent to be there," Cenin explained.
Cenin attended a meeting of Beachwood City Council's economic development committee meeting Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 25. Austin Semarjian, a broker at ICP and son of ICP owner Chris Semarjian, also attended the session. Both replied to questions during a more than hourlong meeting.
At the end, the committee agreed to forward three pieces of legislation to Beachwood City Council for consideration at its meeting on Monday, Aug. 30.
In exchange for setting up shop in Beachwood and taking its $14.5 million annual payroll to the suburb, if council approves the measures, the city would provide a package of incentives.
In one, GE Current would receive a job creation incentive grant for 10 years where it recoups part of the municipal income tax the company's employees would pay. A $500,000 job creation occupancy grant would be funded by the city, and another measure would authorize a rebate of building permit fees totaling about $500,000. The final figure for forgiven fees will be based on final plans of ICP and GE Current.
Cenin said GE Current would occupy about 30,000 square feet of office space at the Commerce Park building and 15,000 square feet of laboratory space. Some engineering staffers would remain at Nela Park to operate equipment that will remain there.
The proposed move follows ICP's purchase earlier this year of half of the former Beachwood Service Garage, some 120,000 square feet of office and warehouse space facing Commerce Park Drive. The city retained the remainder of the space, some 140,000 square feet facing Mercantile Road, for its operations. ICP unveiled extensive plans to renovate the structure last spring.
The name and former use of the structure do not do it justice. The structure had served as the corporate home of a predecessor of JoAnn Fabrics and Craft Stores before the company moved to Hudson decades ago.
GE Current is devoted to advanced lighting and technology controls. It is owned by American Industrial Partners, a New York City-based private equity fund.
GE Lighting, a home automation and lighting company, is owned by Savant Systems, a Hyannis, Massachusetts-based company that focuses on home automation systems.
Several Beachwood council members questioned aspects of the deal, concerned that the city might lose money if GE Current changes hands again. Councilman Matt Burkons said he was surprised that building permit fees would reach such a huge figure for a company relocating to the suburb.
Beachwood Mayor Martin Horwitz was exuberant about the plans.
"This is the start of something big," he said.
Council president James Pasch said he has heard the city talk about plans to revive the Commerce Park business district for a decade.
"We're starting to do something about it," Pasch said. "I hope GE Current is here a lot longer than the 12 years it would lease the space."
Reflecting the tenor of the meeting, James Heller, economic development coordinator for Beachwood, told the committee he's working on new slogans for Commerce Park reflecting the presence of GE bringing "light and brilliance" to Beachwood.
However, Beachwood's gain would be East Cleveland's partial loss and take away another moving part from the century-old Nela Park, considered the nation's first industrial park.
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GE Current looking to exit Nela Park for Beachwood - Crain's Cleveland Business
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