J Magazine June 2017

CLEVELAND
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 30
both his position of local prominence owning
the city’s basketball team and his impressive
track record as a bold, innovative businessman
— Gilbert is the founder of Quicken
Loans, the nation’s largest online mortgage
lender — to bring Clevelanders together to
revive its once-slumbering downtown area.
Gilbert took a dusty, empty building —
once the downtown home of Higbee’s, a local
department store beloved by Clevelanders
— and invested $350 million to turn it into the
Horseshoe Casino.
When it debuted in May 2012, the
multi-level site — now known as the Jack
Cleveland Casino — was the first casino to
open in Ohio.
It quickly became a popular spot for residents
and tourists alike.
But equally important, the fact that Gilbert
took a vision and brought it to completion in
such spectacular fashion served to spark a
belief among those inside and outside the city
that it WAS possible:
Downtown Cleveland could not only be
revived, it could thrive.
OKLAHOMA CITY
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 30
and you wanted to have your people work
in Oklahoma City or Indianapolis, it was a
hands-down decision.”
Presumably a little humiliated but
inspired, the mayor pulled together the City
Council and Chamber of Commerce to develop
a set of projects designed to transform
Oklahoma City and build that quality of life
— an indoor sports arena, a baseball park,
a new downtown library and a renovated
music hall and convention center.
With the endorsement of the local
newspaper, voters again approved the
penny sales tax, for five years, to pay for the
improvements. And when that tax expired,
they extended the tax for seven more years
to build or remodel every school in the city,
then again to renovate the basketball arena
for the NBA Thunder.
In 2009, Oklahoma City voters, apparently
liking their re-energizing city, again extended
the tax to build a park to connect downtown
to the Oklahoma River, a streetcar system, a
convention center and other improvements.
Since then, investors have flocked to
Cleveland.
And the construction cranes have, too.
Neither shows signs of stopping anytime
soon.
And Gilbert hasn’t stopped tackling
ambitious downtown projects — including
the purchase and total renovation of the
Ritz-Carlton Hotel and acquisition of the
once-dormant Tower City Center mall.
In each case, Gilbert has not been afraid to
think big, set high goals that focus on improving
downtown Cleveland in transformative
ways and work in a collaborative fashion to
get things done.
Oh, and along the way, Gilbert’s Cavaliers
have won an NBA title — and will probably
win more in years to come.
In an email to the Times-Union, Gilbert
offered these observations on what has driven
his desire to become involved in bringing
downtown Cleveland to life:
“Engagement and investment in our
communities is a central part of our operating
culture and who we are as an organization.
“Not just for the impact on the urban
core, but the impact that extends into the
In late 2015, Jax Chamber took its leadership
trip to Oklahoma City, and Jerry Mallot,
president of JAXUSA Partnership, said he
was stunned at the turnaround since his last
visit 25 years before. “I was amazed as we
toured the tremendous man-made changes
to the river, downtown infrastructure and
development around the city that created an
environment I couldn’t have imagined.
“Damming up the river to make it beautiful
and create a national rowing center,
putting a canal in downtown with tour boats
around which condos, restaurants and businesses
developed, building beautiful parks
in the center of the city, constructing a new
arena for basketball that attracted an NBA
team, and so many other things had turned
this very dull town into a very interesting
place to visit.
“They followed the plan and gained the
trust and confidence of their citizens, which
allowed them to get reauthorization of the
sales tax every seven years to do more great
things in their community.
“You can’t make this up because no one
would believe it.”
neighborhoods as well.
“Investing in projects that stimulate development
and growth outside the walls of the
arena are a reflection of that commitment, but
it also benefits the entire franchise and all of
our employees.
“‘Doing well’ and ‘doing good’ do not
conflict. In fact, they fit like two pieces from the
same puzzle.
“Connectivity is a huge part of our philosophy
as well. Business, community, jobs,
and economic growth are all threads that tie
together.
“Making downtown a place where
generations of people want to live, work and
play has a multiplying effect for retaining and
attracting more business, more residents, more
young talent and growing the job base and
economy.
“A professional sports franchise is an
incredible platform to launch a commitment
to an urban core and its community unlike
any other. The levers you can pull to affect real
positive change are endless.
“I encourage all team owners to leverage
their platforms for these noble purposes.
Everyone benefits.”
National Geographic christened Oklahoma
City as one of 20 “must-see places” in the
world, going from “the beer-gut metropolis
spilling across the Great Plains” to a changed
city. “The central Oklahoma River has a
community boathouse and a new West River
Trail. An 11-acre white-water rafting center ...
Local architect firms and coffee roasters that
wouldn’t be out of place in Portlandia now
line once dormant Automobile Alley. And
then there’s MidTown. Not long ago a den of
crackhouses and abandoned lots just north
of downtown’s 1995 bombing site, MidTown
has sprouted condos, a boutique hotel, and
Dust Bowl Lanes.
“This is Oklahoma?”
O’Connor credited vision and leadership
— starting with Norick, who was mayor
1987-99 and his non-term-limited successors,
now Mick Cornett, in office since 2004
— but including the committed chamber of
commerce and supportive taxpayers.
“Don’t underplay the value of political
and civic leadership that is aligned in what
they want to accomplish,” O’Connor said.
“You can’t underestimate the power of that.”
32 J MAGAZINE | JUNE 2017