VOL. 38, NO. 2 JANUARY 9 - 15, 2017 Source Lunch Akron City hopes Trump keeps infrastructure campaign promises. Page 16 Nurete Brenner, director The List of business programs at CLEVELAND BUSINESS Northeast Ohio’s top Ursuline College Page 15 SBA lenders Page 19 REAL ESTATE Survey: Rent rates are on rise downtown By STAN BULLARD
[email protected] @CrainRltywriter Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the downtown Cleveland oce market is undergoing one of its biggest chang- es in more than two decade: Rents are inching up. Taking a new spin on the tradition- al year-end oce market survey, An- OUTLOOK drew Batson, director of research in the Great Lakes Region of the JLL re- alty brokerage, reported average ask- Will Trump’s ing rents in the city center climbed 2.5% this past year and promise to keep climbing through 2020 if no policies help new oce buildings go up. Look for Class A asking rents downtown, which currently average manufacturing $24.69 per square foot, to rise $1 per square foot by 2020 if rents appreci- gears turn? ate as expected for the next few years. Crain’s photo illustration by David Kordalski, iStock Older, less well-located oce buildings downtown, known as Class B, could benet from rents rising to By RACHEL ABBEY McCAFFERTY Manufacturers are waiting to see policy, he wants to reduce signi- Schulman Inc. in Fairlawn. ere’s op- $18.81 a square foot by 2020 from what impact President-elect Donald cantly the tax rate on businesses, tax timism surrounding the year, especial- $18.07 now.