First of all, Ted Jones is an economist who presents his economic forecast to the clients of NorthStar Title every January. Secondly, Doug Forbes is my brother who lives outside of Philadelphia. My brother had not been to Cleveland for 8 years when he came in for a short visit after Christmas. I took my brother on a quick tour of downtown Cleveland, Ohio City, Tremont and Gordon Square. I showed him all the new development that I have worked on (mostly historic conversion into apartments) but also the new Convention Center, the surrounding new hotels and, of course, the world’s largest outdoor chandelier in Playhouse Square. He was dumbfounded and could not stop talking about Cleveland’s comeback (which I had been telling him about for the last several years.) He started texting his wife and family back east. He sent them pictures. He emailed me when he got home and said WOW, maybe I should move back to Cleveland.

Last week, I went to listen to Ted Jones’ yearly presentation. He said that this was the first time in the 10 years that he had been coming to Cleveland that he could say that Cleveland is doing great economically. He cited our connection to the auto industry as one of the primary reasons. He also said that the retail boom is just starting and entry level homebuyers are returning to the market. But he also talked about our redevelopment and the strength of the housing market, in particular rental housing. He was high on Cleveland. Although Ted is from Texas and Doug is from Pennsylvania they are both now Cleveland fans. They finally see what I have seen for a long time. Cleveland is truly a renaissance city and I feel fortunate to be a part of its redevelopment.