Challenge
Lincoln Electric, a Fortune 1000 global manufacturer, required a facility to support its new additive manufacturing line along with an innovative customer experience center.
Initially, Lincoln was seeking 25,000 sq. ft. of space with requirements including high-tech industrial functionality, curb appeal, and proximity to its headquarters. Additional facility specifications addressed minimum thresholds for office space area, efficient manufacturing layout, number of dock doors, crane capacity, ventilation systems, foundation thickness for heavy machinery and equipment, power capacity, parking supply, and more. In addition to Lincoln’s traditional specifications, the new facility needed to be attractive and welcoming for customers. With newly ordered machinery and equipment scheduled to arrive in Cleveland from other markets, the timing of possession and occupancy of the facility was also a critical aspect of the decision-making process.
Solution
Keeping these detailed business objectives and requirements in mind, Allegro, as Lincoln’s exclusive tenant representative, identified six potential properties around Northeast Ohio. Due to the planned tenant upgrades, each short-listed facility required intensive technical research and comprehensive vetting to remain under consideration. Additionally, given the fact that this was a new business line for Lincoln, the plans and requirements for future operations could, and ultimately did, change quickly. For instance, two of the factors that altered the search and facility layout throughout the process included varying power capacity and total square footage requirements.
Considering limited new industrial development in the targeted geography, only one property was determined to be a strong match for Lincoln’s business objectives. The preferred property was a newly constructed speculative industrial facility very close to Lincoln’s headquarters that offered 75,000 sq. ft. of raw space ideally suited for Lincoln’s use.
Unknown by Allegro, the developer had already been in discussions with a Fortune 50 company who planned to lease the entire building, whereas Lincoln was only looking to lease 30% of the space. Because of the aggressive competing offer, both Lincoln and the landlord considered Lincoln’s deal to be “dead.” Loss of this property would be disruptive to Lincoln’s business timeline, as there were no equal space alternatives that achieved as many of the original goals for functionality, quality, location, and timing.
Allegro worked with Lincoln executives to successfully revive and complete the deal. New uses were identified in order to maximize utilization of this property. Within 24 hours, Allegro obtained approval to lease the entire building, countering the landlord. High-level business terms were negotiated and completed, a draft lease was received from the landlord, and Allegro worked around the clock to complete a fully negotiated lease document over a weekend. By Monday morning, the discussions were complete with full consensus from Lincoln executives and legal counsel, and a lease was fully executed, securing the space for Lincoln before the other tenant could fully mobilize and complete a deal.
In addition to working with Lincoln’s leadership to realign the timeline and make accelerated business decisions to secure the facility, Allegro was also able to obtain government economic incentives to help offset initial capital costs.
Allegro negotiated favorable terms for Lincoln in an extremely competitive environment and in an unusually compressed time frame. Allegro’s efforts allowed Lincoln to commence its additive manufacturing operations on schedule and also provides growth opportunities in the balance of the space.
