Key Bank Cleveland Center Offices Open in Higbee Bldg. - Cont'd

Key Corp. required a vast amount of space for its operations and it gets that at the Higbee Building.  The elevator lobbies on each floor were carefully rehabilitated and areas of full height ceilings and columns with their volutes were exposed.  The perimeter area of each floor avoids dropped ceilings and spacious windows provide dramatic views of the city to its users.  The office of Asa Shiverick, president of the Higbee co. at the times of its move to Public Square, has been restored as a 9^th floor conference room overlooking the square.  Most dramatically, large new public passage has been opened, leading from Public Square to the new multi-tenant lobby on the mezzanine level.  It is planed to be accented with memorabilia of the old department store.

This project retains hundreds of jobs in downtown Cleveland and stabilizes one of the downtown's largest buildings at nearly 1 million square feet.  State and federal tax incentives played important roles in financing the project.  Vocon served as architects for Key Corp. http://www.vocon.com/portfolio/financial/KeyBank_Client_Service_Center and Steven McQuillin was the preservation consultant.