CLEVELAND, Ohio — A state legislative panel approved $70 million in no-interest, incrementally-forgivable loans for The Sherwin-Williams Co. to build its new headquarters in downtown Cleveland, as well as a new research and development facility in Brecksville.
The Ohio Controlling Board, which approves spending requests, gave the OK to the two $35 million loans during a 6-minute virtual meeting held on Dec. 28. The agreement requires Sherwin-Williams to repay the loan over 25 years, though the state will forgive the payments each year the company maintains the required job metrics.
The Cleveland-based paint giant committed to creating 400 new full-time jobs and retaining 3,524 existing jobs, according to details in a document on the Ohio Development Services Agency’s website.
The new financial perks for the project are just the most recent for the paint giant’s plans for a 1 million-square-foot building at the west end of Public Square and a 500,000 square-foot campus off Interstate 77 in Brecksville. The estimated cost of the new facilities is more than $630 million.
Cleveland, Brecksville and Cuyahoga County’s governments have approved incentives for the project, and JobsOhio awarded $37.5 million in grants in April. The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority last year also approved up to $50 million in taxable lease revenue bonds for the project.
The Development Services Agency was set to ask the Controlling Board to approve the loans during a meeting in March. The requests were pulled from the agenda at the time because of a review by Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration to look at across-the-board spending cuts due to the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
Development Services Agency spokesman Todd Walker said in an email Monday it was the state’s intent to finalize a deal with Sherwin-Williams for the loans by the end of 2020.
Sherwin-Williams has said employees will likely move into both facilities in 2024.