Walter Haverfield signs long

Law firm Walter Haverfield is preparing to hop across downtown Cleveland, after signing a long-term lease on half a floor at Post Office Plaza.

The firm is leaving its longtime perch at the Tower at Erieview, a skyscraper earmarked for a partial conversion to apartments and a W hotel. After shedding two practice groups, and about 40 employees, last year, Walter Haverfield is trimming its office footprint by more than 25% — and designing its new space to be more dynamic and collaborative.

"It's a more inviting atmosphere, and I think that's what we need to do to make people want to come into the office," said Kevin Murphy, the firm's newly elected managing partner.

Walter Haverfield recently inked a 15-year lease on 39,545 square feet at Post Office Plaza, the historic central downtown post office that has been an office complex since the late 1980s. The firm also has a right of first refusal to lease the rest of the building's third floor, which went dark in 2021 when JPMorgan Chase closed a call center during the depths of the pandemic.

K&D Group, the building's owner, will gut and remake the space, based on plans drawn up by Cleveland-based HSB Architects and Engineers. The major downtown landlord has shepherded Post Office Plaza through ups and downs, and an overhaul of the lobby and other common areas, since purchasing the property in 2017.

Doug Price, K&D's CEO, said the building is 72% leased.

K&D's other downtown office properties, near Public Square and Playhouse Square, are 85% to 100% spoken for.

"In the last couple of months, leasing has picked up considerably," he said, adding that much of that interest is coming from smaller tenants whose leases elsewhere are set to expire. "We're in active discussions with most of our buildings."

Walter Haverfield's Erieview lease ends Nov. 30. The firm will take occupancy at Post Office Plaza the following day.

"It's a total turnkey deal," Price said.

The law firm, which now has 60 attorneys, started exploring its options in late 2021. That real estate search spanned downtown and neighboring Ohio City, where there wasn't a large enough block of office space to meet Walter Haverfield's needs.

"It was an exhaustive process," said Rico Pietro of Cushman & Wakefield-Cresco Real Estate, who represented the firm with colleague Jason Laver.

Another Cresco team markets leasing opportunities at Post Office Plaza for K&D.

"The building just shows really well," Pietro said, noting that K&D has made proactive investments in curb appeal and other features, including a café, that tenants care about as they try to lure employees back to the office. "You walk in, and it feels fresh. The amenities are probably competitive with any other building in the market."

Walter Haverfield's lawyers and paralegals, who work downtown at least three days each week, will have private offices. But the firm's new space will be more conducive to social interactions, with a large conference center, bar and breakroom offering a view of the Cuyahoga River.

"Collaboration is key," Murphy said. "Young lawyers learn from older lawyers and being trained. And that's hard to do over Zoom."

There's also increased energy in the neighborhood, where Bedrock, the owner of Tower City Center, released an ambitious master plan last year for remaking the ailing mall and turning riverfront property behind it into a mixed-use neighborhood, with 12 acres of public space and cascading pedestrian access to the water's edge.

"The space is more activated in that part of town. … If a portion of those plans comes to fruition, we're maybe going to look smarter than we are," Murphy said.

Post Office Plaza, on West Third Street, connects to Tower City through an interior corridor. And the complex is linked to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and the Gateway District by another enclosed walkway.

A short stroll away, the Sherwin-Williams Co. is building its new headquarters tower just off Public Square. The global coatings giant expects to move into the building by late 2024.

Other buildings in the area are undergoing mixed-use transformations or awaiting redevelopment. At 55 Public Square, an office tower undergoing a partial residential revamp, K&D expects to wrap up apartment construction in July. Local chef Rocco Whalen aims to open his expansive Fahrenheit restaurant out front by early summer.

On the other side of downtown, meanwhile, the Tower at Erieview is in transition. And the Galleria, a glassy shopping mall next door, is near-vacant.

The Kassouf family, which bought the complex in 2018, has been trying to assemble the final pieces of financing for a complicated, high-end renovation project.

Walter Haverfield's looming departure from the tower is bittersweet, Murphy said.

"We'd love to be around to see what's happening, but to live through a construction project like that would be very difficult for our business," he said, pointing out that the firm's offices are spread across three upper floors — and sandwiched between spaces slated to become apartments and a high-rise restaurant.

"We wish them the best of luck," he added.