Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. today announced plans to introduce its popular Westin brand to Cleveland, Ohio. The Westin Cleveland Convention Center will open in summer 2013 in a prime location, adjacent to the Cleveland Medical Mart and Convention Center complex. Owned by Sage Hospitality, the former Crowne Plaza will undergo a $64 million renovation prior to re-opening as a Westin. The Westin Cleveland Convention Center will offer 481 luxurious rooms, a full-service restaurant, 26,000 square feet of meeting facilities and the full suite of Westin signature amenities and services.

The visible and dramatic structural steel and metal deck erection at the Medical Mart continues with more than 40 ironworkers working in tandem with two large cranes lifting steel and metal decking from the east and west sides. The second and third of three sequences of truss members for the main atrium support system are scheduled to be hoisted into place later this week. Installation of metal decking and shear studs continues on numerous levels, as weather allows. The first Showroom Level concrete pour is also scheduled in the near future. Reinforcing for the concrete floors is being placed on the second half of Showroom Level 1 and the first half of Showroom Level 2.

The steel frame of the future Medical Mart continues to rise dramatically at the corner of St. Clair Avenue and Ontario Street, with crews already setting steel beams on the fourth level of the future structure. Structural steel and metal deck erection continues with two cranes working from the east and west sides, setting over 600 tons of steel with more than 40 ironworkers currently working on the Medical Mart steel erection. Two of the three sequences of truss members for the main atrium support system have arrived and are being assembled on the ground. The Medical Mart atrium trusses, measuring more than 200 feet long fully assembled, will be hoisted up in thirds beginning within the next week. Metal decking and shear studs are also progressing rapidly on multiple levels working toward conclusion in January 2012. Reinforcing for the concrete floors arrived earlier this week and the construction team will begin pouring the elevated floors next week.

Thinking about moving? You should consider Cleveland. That's the pitch of Global Cleveland – and it's a more reasonable appeal than it might have been a few years ago. One of the key nodes of the Rust Belt, along with Detroit, Pittsburgh and Buffalo, the Forest City suffered horribly with the collapse of manufacturing in the latter half of the last century, losing dozens of major businesses and about 60 percent of its population since 1950, according to the 2010 census. But that tale of decline has been reversed in recent years, mainly via deep investments in economic diversification, infrastructure and the arts. Ongoing development projects in the Cleveland area total $7 billion, according to the Greater Cleveland Partnership. Big-ticket projects include a $560 million makeover for University Hospitals Case Medical Center, a $465 million convention center and medical mart and a $350 million casino on Public Square, the city's central plaza.
 

On and under the future Mall C, wet weather has slightly hampered structural steel progress, but the construction team has completed the steel and 70% of the metal decking which becomes the support for the new Mall C. The team is continuing with masonry work at the north egress stairs. Under Lakeside Avenue, the team is installing rebar for the concrete column covering on the new columns supporting Lakeside Ave. Support framing along the south curb line is being erected in anticipation of the installation of winter weather enclosures as well.

FROM THE "NBC TODAY SHOW" (Today Books):  Former President Bill Clinton spoke with Today's Ann Curry on November 8 about his new book "Back to Work".  During the interview, the former President mentions both the Cleveland Clinic and the Cuyahoga Community College for their continuing efforts to retrain those who lost their jobs during the recession.

The Medical Mart continues to rise above the ground in dramatic fashion as steel erection and detailing continues on multiple levels. Metal decking has also started right behind steel erection on several levels with the first level of the metal deck pour scheduled within the next several weeks. On the future Convention Center site, steel detailing and metal decking is within a few feet of completion along the East Concourse with crews pouring the last 15 feet this week.