CLEVELAND — Cleveland foodies know Rocco Whalen as the owner of Fahrenheit in Tremont for the past 22 years. His landmark restaurant is now in a new spot in downtown Cleveland, with more space.

What You Need To Know

  • Sherwin Williams is building a new global headquarters in downtown Cleveland

  • The development is expected to house 4,000 employees

  • Farenheit has moved to downtown closer to the new Sherwin Williams HQ for more foot traffic

“I have, you know, tripled my size but also equivalently a rooftop is added, a first floor patio, residential tower as well as seven, eight floors of commercial real estate opportunity," Whalen said.

The Sherwin Williams global headquarters being built across the street is one of the big reasons why he moved here, he said. The new building will hold about 4,000 people and with a development this size, employees will likely be working at the office.

“A thousand people from that side of the facade of that 37-story tower will be able to see my rooftop every moment they look out their window in their office," Whalen said. 

According to DowntownCleveland.com, there are more than 30 new bars and restaurants in downtown since the COVID-19 pandemic, and city officials estimate that 60% of downtown’s workforce has returned to the office, with foot traffic at about 80% of pre-pandemic levels.

With a larger restaurant comes a larger kitchen, which can serve more people.

Sous Chef Matt Fracci said the resturant has six times the space, which gives room to add new machines that can cook more food at once, in case large corporate dinners are scheduled.

“We're talking, instead of doing 20-40 pounds of meat at a time, we could do upwards of 120 pounds of meat in here daily to get to the production levels that we're looking for," Fracci said. 

And the kitchen staff can prepare all their food from scratch, instead of ordering some of their products

“All of our pastries are made from scratch, from the whipped cream, down to the bread, down to the side," Fracci said. 

Whalen said they haven’t started lunch yet, but with thousands of potential new customers coming across the street, he’s expecting people to come and at least try it.

“I think downtown is driven by lunch," Whalen said. "I think downtown is, office buildings are being erected and constructed, and people are back in their offices.”

Sherwin Williams estimates its new global headquarters will be compete by the end of 2024. Whalen may have opened ahead of time, but he said this way they’ll be ready and established when the building opens.

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