As a strong community partner, we understand the impact our new headquarters facility will have in enhancing the heart of downtown Cleveland and spurring adjacent economic growth. Collecting community feedback is important to us and we have completed a multi-tiered approach. This included gathering input from an advisory group made up of representatives from key, local organizations with a strong interest in our Building Our Future project; hosting several small input sessions with local residents, downtown businesses and building managers; and gathering feedback through one-on-one meetings with government, business and community organizations.

The Company worked with our partners to reconfigure the proposed site so that it is now comprised of 45 acres of the Veterans Administration (VA) site and 74 acres of an adjacent site commonly known as the Dalad site or the Crowland site. This change more than doubles the available VA site property (to 69 acres) for other development opportunities for the mixed-use project.

We are a sustainable company, and we expect our new facilities to reflect that commitment. The Company is targeting LEED certification, but the levels have not been finalized given the current stages of the project and multiple pending considerations.

We are including any required remediation as part of the overall construction process at the Cleveland and Brecksville sites. We are working closely with the Ohio EPA to address any issues that are identified.

The designs for the Building Our Future headquarters and research & development center are continuing to evolve and be further developed as part of the project process. As the design work progresses, the associated costs of construction are also being refined. As of October 2022, Sherwin-Williams updated its project cost of construction to $750M to better reflect the updated design work related to the project. We will provide updates as the design work advances.

The Company conducted a ceremonial groundbreaking at the R&D Center site on October 22, 2021. You can view the event replay here. A celebration announcing the official start of construction for the new headquarters campus was held on January 28, 2022. You can view the event replay here.

Sherwin-Williams is making great progress on the Building Our Future project, creating exceptional employee experiences designed to drive collaboration, innovation and interaction. Based on the latest construction information, we expect the multi-phase move-in process to occur in 2025 rather than late 2024.

Our current construction and real estate partners estimate several thousand construction workers are required.

Sherwin-Williams has been and will continue to be a proud supporter of our local communities. We are committed to and value inclusion, diversity and equity (ID&E) in our workforce. This ID&E commitment is being extended to our Building Our Future project. We have been working proactively with the cities, community leaders and trade partners to ensure this project positively impacts the local economy by providing workforce opportunities for the community.

This process has already resulted in the awarding of multiple contracts to diverse firms totaling in the millions of dollars. Sherwin-Williams will continue to provide many more opportunities for diverse firms to participate in the weeks and months ahead as additional construction, design and services decisions are made. We expect these future awards to also be in the millions of dollars. We are confident our approach will continue to create significant opportunities for multiple minority-owned, women-owned and small businesses to flourish, now and in the future.

To view the total contracted dollars to date, click here. 

To view the list of minority, female and small business firms involved on the project, click here.

For the global headquarters project, we plan to meet the standard set forth in Cleveland’s Fannie Lewis Law. The Company continues to explore in collaboration with our partners how we can apply our ID&E approach to a broad spectrum of project activities.

The following represents the economic inclusion criteria associated with the Building Our Future project.         

*Required as part of the approved economic development packages.

** Based upon project construction costs of $750M.

In addition, Sherwin-Williams is committed to keeping in Northeast Ohio the majority of the project profits and labor.

Sherwin-Williams selected five firms for the minority construction management (MCM) role for the Building Our Future project. The companies awarded this role are:

• Adrian Maldonado & Associates
• The AKA Team
• Ozanne Construction Company, Inc.
• R. L. Hill Management Services, Inc.
• Regency Construction Services, Inc.

These firms are providing construction management services, including setting direction, overseeing operations, augmenting staff and making decisions that significantly impact the project’s budget, schedule and quality. Four of the five are providing skilled trades employees that are able to perform activities such as carpentry, millwork and painting. The firms are based in Northeast Ohio and are either minority-owned or female-owned.

Sherwin-Williams has awarded the outreach and compliance specialist role to Brownstone-Grey. The firm will be responsible for supporting the Building Our Future inclusion, diversity and equity strategy. This includes leveraging community partnerships and ensuring maximum participation by identifying strategic engagement activities. The firm will track business and workforce compliance, as well as provide ongoing reporting of the progress made toward all project goals, requirements and opportunity areas. In addition, the firm will Implement appropriate systems, tools and processes for data input and tracking for integrated project delivery (IPD), contractor and subcontractor information, payroll and other components to capture and house workforce and business data that best satisfy the monitoring needs of the project in concert with the IPD Team acceptance.

Yes, we continue to award contracts to multiple, diverse firms. As of February 2022, the following minority-owned, female-owned and small business firms have been added to the project.

To view the list of minority, female and small business firms involved on the project, click here.

We welcome the participation of union labor in the construction of our new facilities. We will work with our construction partners to pay state prevailing wages on the construction components of the project.

Sherwin-Williams has entered into an agreement to sell its current headquarters facility and its Breen Technology Center (BTC) to Bedrock Management Services. The headquarters facility is located at 101 West Prospect Avenue and BTC is located at 601 Canal Road, both in Cleveland, OH. Both facilities will be integral to the new Bedrock master plan, and we are pleased to support this significant investment in the City of Cleveland. The Company’s current headquarters sits on nearly three acres and consists of three buildings totaling approximately 1,300,000 square feet. BTC sits on just over nine acres and includes a building totaling approximately 145,000 square feet. The sale is expected to be completed during 2023. The purchase price has not been disclosed. Sherwin-Williams will continue to operate out of both sites until the Company’s new facilities are complete. 

In addition, Sherwin-Williams has entered into an agreement to sell its current Warrensville Technical Center (WTC) to Cleveland Warrensville Center LLC. The Company facility is located on Warrensville Center Road in Warrensville Heights, OH. The site will be redeveloped to support new industrial business in the community, and we are pleased to support this significant investment in Warrensville Heights. The Company’s WTC site sits on 105 acres and includes seven primary buildings, various outbuildings and structures totaling approximately 435,000 square feet. The sale is expected to be completed in December 2023. The purchase price has not been disclosed. Sherwin-Williams will continue to occupy the WTC facility until the Company’s new facilities are complete.

The transition to the new facilities will occur in 2025.

Sherwin-Williams understands that the design of our new headquarters complex may negatively affect migratory bird behavior. To better understand the potential implications, the Company has engaged an avian consultant, BirdMaster, to assist us in assessing how our campus design may affect migratory and resident bird welfare. In addition, the consultant will provide us with recommendations and strategies to ensure we balance our campus design and operational needs with those of the migratory bird population.

While it is still early in the consultation process, Sherwin-Williams, in concert with our consultant, has established an initial strategy which takes a tiered approach to minimizing elements that attract birds to our campus and to our buildings. Over the coming months, our avian consultant will be developing a more comprehensive strategy.

No. There are no design work or construction plans underway for a second tower at the new global headquarters. The Company is still finishing construction of the first tower, with plans to begin taking occupancy in 2025. Initial project plans included the option for a second tower to accommodate future growth of the Company if needed.

Preliminary discussions are underway related to a mixed-use development surrounding the garage with the goal of adding a combination of retail, dining, hotel, residential and other amenities that support our employees.  The mixed-use development is not planned to be available Day-1. Updates on these activities will be shared when available.