Sherwin-Williams to Spend More than $600M on New Global Headquarters, R&D Center in Ohio

Preliminary plans call for Sherwin-Williams to invest a minimum of $600 million to build both facilities in the Cleveland suburb.

The planned new global headquarters and R&D center projects will total approximately 1.5 million square feet.

BRECKSVILLE, OH—The Sherwin Williams Company has announced plans to build a new global headquarters and research and development center here.

Preliminary plans call for Sherwin-Williams to invest a minimum of $600 million to build both facilities in the Cleveland suburb. The planned new approximately 1-million-square-foot global headquarters would be in downtown Cleveland located just west of Public Square between Saint Clair Avenue and Superior Avenue.

The planned new 500,000-square-foot R&D center would be in Brecksville, located off I-77 at Miller Road and Brecksville Road. The R&D center would serve as the corporate anchor for a new mixed- use development project.

Combined, the two facilities would house more than 3,500 employees with room to accommodate significant future growth. Sherwin-Williams estimates it would add a minimum of 400 jobs at these facilities over time, an increase of 11% to the company’s current local workforce. Many of these jobs will include professional staff, engineers and chemists.

“Our plans to continue investing in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio build on our 154-year legacy as one of the region’s top employers and drivers of economic activity,” says Sherwin-Williams chairman and CEO John G. Morikis. “Driven by our continued need to serve our customers at the highest level and retain and attract top talent, we intend to create a next-generation workplace environment that ignites creativity, collaboration and industry-leading innovation.”

Morikis notes that Sherwin-Williams currently operates out of a 90-year-old headquarters building that no longer is conducive to meeting the firm’s future needs.

Sherwin-Williams current local footprint in Cuyahoga County including the City of Cleveland has generated more than $4 billion in employee payroll and $140 million in taxes over the past 10 years. Based on current site plans, the City of Cleveland estimates that when the new global headquarters is occupied, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District will receive an estimated $3 million in additional annual revenue from Sherwin-Williams.

The transition to the new facilities is not expected to occur until 2023 at the earliest. No announcements have been made regarding construction partners, and no decisions have been made regarding the disposition of the company’s current R&D center and headquarters, located in Cleveland at Canal Road and W. Prospect Avenue, respectively.