The Westin and Cleveland’s Downtown Revitalization

Downtown Cleveland’s economic resurgence has been made possible by entities from different sectors working together to bring new development to neglected corners of the city. CiF is one such organization; working with developers and local government entities to provide low-cost EB-5 financing to job creating projects. The Westin Downtown Cleveland is a great example of one of CiF’s successful collaborations, as the project helped revitalize a very visible section of downtown and has created positive economic impacts that ripple across the local and regional economy.

The Westin Downtown Cleveland EB-5 Project

CiF’s third EB-5 project was the transformation of the former Crowne Plaza hotel at the corner of East 6th Street and Saint Clair Avenue in downtown Cleveland into a new Westin Hotel. The Crowne Plaza had long been in disrepair and was in desperate need of renovation, reflagging the hotel as a Westin – complete with new amenities and significant upgrades – was an excellent way to prevent the building from sliding into further dilapidation and disuse.

The need to preserve the hotel at the corner of East 6th and Saint Clair was only made more pressing by the construction of the Cleveland Convention Center and attached Global Center for Health Innovation, which was underway just a block to the east of the property.

Working with the property’s owner, CiF raised $36 million in EB-5 funds from foreign nationals, for use in converting the Crowne Plaza into a state of the art Westin hotel. Construction of the Westin project tracked the construction of the Convention Center (and attached Global Center) with the Westin opening for business less than a year after the opening of the Convention Center began operations.

The 22-floor Westin has been operating for more than a year and its 484 rooms provide lodging for business travelers, convention-goers, and tourists alike. The hotel offers signature Westin amenities and has ballrooms and meeting space available for private use. The Westin also boasts one of Cleveland’s finest steakhouses, The Urban Farmer, which specializes in locally sourced ingredients drawn from sustainable sources. Further, Cleveland’s own LAND Studio worked with hotel management to fill the lobby, guest rooms, and other hotel spaces with more than 1,500 pieces of artwork, many created by local Cleveland artists.

CiF was glad to have been able to partner with the developers to see the completion of the new Westin Downtown Cleveland. The project has helped revitalize a very visible part of downtown Cleveland and the Westin provides quality lodging options to guests of all kinds, helping to further the mission of the Convention Center.

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University Hospitals Project: Why EB-5

University Hospital’s (UH) ‘Vision 2010’ expansion campaign saw the construction of several new hospital facilities and upgrades to existing facilities, that significantly increased UH’s ability to serve patients. Thanks to imaginative leadership the community and UH, the expansion plan committed to hiring an unprecedented number of local union contractors and vendors for the construction and procurement operations of these new and upgraded facilities. All of which greatly expanded the already significant positive economic impact of Vision 2010’s new investment. 

University Hospitals EB-5 Project: Anchor Institutions & Economic Growth

The story of Cleveland's economic rebound has been made possible by a myriad of different entities, all working together toward the common goal of increasing growth in the city. Some of the key players that have made this ongoing economic development possible are the city's anchor institutions.

In Cleveland, large hospital systems and universities are among the most visible entities to be considered anchor institutions since they employ thousands of people, require considerable support services from vendors, have large annual budget expenditures, and have deep roots within the region.

The University Hospitals EB-5 Project

After the success of the Flats East Bank EB-5 Project, CiF was eager to find another catalytic development project in Cleveland. As the city has developed into a hub for advanced healthcare research and technology (two of the world’s leading healthcare systems – the Cleveland Clinic and the University Hospitals Health System (UH) – are based in the city), we at CiF were interested in finding a way to use EB-5 to support Cleveland’s growing healthcare industry.

It quickly became apparent that University Hospitals’ “Vision 2010” system-wide expansion plan would be an excellent fit for EB-5. UH’s multi-year plan to update existing and construct new healthcare facilities not only satisfied government standards for the EB-5 program in terms of job creation and supporting economic development but also appealed to the interests of EB-5 Investors.