FROM COMMERCIAL PROPERTY EXECUTIVE: With a ceremonial groundbreaking, work is officially underway on the Cleveland Medical Mart & Convention Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Developed on behalf of Cuyahoga County by Merchandise Mart Properties Inc., a division of Vornado Realty Trust, the $465 million project has already attracted commitments from a lengthy list of convention planners as well as businesses hoping to pre-lease space. Crews are at the ready to lay the groundwork for the demolition of five buildings, abatement and other such preparation activities to make way for Cleveland MMCC. The development will encompass the 235,000 square-foot, four-story Medial Mart for the display of cutting-edge technology and products in the healthcare market, and will sit adjacent to the 230,000 square-foot Convention Center, which will include 90,000 square feet of dedicated meeting space and sit underneath the historic Cleveland malls.

FROM MEDICAL MEETINGS: Government and convention center officials were on hand for the ceremonial groundbreaking of the Cleveland Medical Mart and Convention Center on January 14. The project will be completed in fall 2013.

FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS: The Cleveland City Planning Commission has OK'd designs for a long-awaited convention and medical trade-show center downtown. Officials broke ground on the $465 million project earlier this month.

FROM FRESHWATER CLEVELAND: Writing for the Tennessean, business health care reporter Getahn Ward claims that "Cleveland scores first in medical mart race with Nashville." Following a momentous ground breaking where a laundry list of prospective tenants, conferences, conventions and trade shows planned for the $465 million mart and convention center were announced, Ward writes that Cleveland "scored major points" in the med-mart public relations battle.

FROM TSNN NEWS: Five years after MMPI signed on to help the Cleveland Medical Mart and new convention center start the road to becoming a realized project, ground was broken in mid-January in front of a crowd of 600 business, civic, community and political leaders. Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald and Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, as well as MMPI President Chris Kennedy, were on hand for the groundbreaking ceremony.

FROM THE PLAIN DEALER: The Cleveland City Planning Commission signed off Friday on designs for the downtown medical mart and convention center. Seconding the opinion of its advisory board, the panel also withheld approval for the park-like malls that cover the underground convention center, asking Cuyahoga County and its private partner, Chicago-based MMPI, to reevaluate site lighting, public art and a barrier to keep trucks from driving up an incline. "We still have a lot of things we need to fine tune," said commission Chairman Anthony Coyne. The planning commission also wants MMPI to consider improving the buildings' energy efficiency, swapping a seasonal canopy for a permanent one and locating a medical mart coffee shop next to the mall. The goal is to make the mall a vibrant gathering spot.

FROM THE PLAIN DEALER: Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc., and the leadership of Cuyahoga County are changing the face of downtown Cleveland and the direction of Northeast Ohio with the new Medical Mart and Convention Center.

From WJW-TV 8 FOX: One of Cleveland's most anticipated downtown construction projects, that has been talked about for years, is now officially underway. A ceremonial groundbreaking for Cleveland's new Medical Mart and convention center was held Friday morning. City, county and state leaders dug shovels into dirt to mark the construction of a project that's been five years in the making. Actual construction began on Jan. 3.