In the early 2000s, public speeches of one of America’s leading gurus on historic preservation and economic development, Donovan Rypkema, routinely included an observation that 19th and early 20th century downtown commercial buildings provide outstanding locations for technology companies. In his speech on the “Economic Power of Preservation,” for instance, Rypkema pointed to a situation where one Midwestern city tore down a downtown block to entice high tech firms to “modern” offices, however at the same time the trend was for such companies to seek out the uniqueness and adaptability of the same type of space that was demolished.

Guess what? Rypkema was right (of course)... and years later, that trend still holds true – in no less a place than downtown Cleveland. One of the epicenters of this phenomenon is a place where rent is reasonable, spaces are older, easy to re-configure and full of character, and where one can catch world-class theatre, dance and music within a very short walk – Playhouse Square, one of the largest concentrations of older performing arts venues in the country. To see an overall map of where the new high tech firms are locating in downtown Cleveland, click here.

This past Wednesday’s Cleveland Plain Dealer featured an article entitled, “Downtown Cleveland becoming technology mecca” – click here to read it. In it, the Plain Dealer interviews tech company execs and trade firms and finds out that the magic ingredient is the uniqueness and openness of space, combined with the synergy of being located near other tech firms. These firms tend to be in the growing stages, where the age and number of potential employees make historic downtown office space an ideal fit.

Photo: Playhouse Square, Cleveland -- kyleroth/Creative Commons License