American Greetings Headquarters
and Creative Studios

American Greetings, the world’s largest greeting card company, built its new Headquarters and Creative Studios in Westlake at Crocker Park. The 110 year old Cleveland-based, privately owned company moved from its previous location in Brooklyn, Ohio in August 2016.

Lake Erie Electric was awarded the electrical package which included the power and lighting distribution, low-voltage lighting control, fire alarm systems, and temperature control in 2014. The contract for the Audio/Visual cabling was awarded to the LEE telecom division in 2015.

The 657,000 square foot building will house over 2,400 employees. It features 57,000 square feet of ground-level retail to match the Crocker Park shopping experience. That space will be developed and leased to future retail tenants. The five-story building has a two-level, open-air courtyard in the center of the building with landscaping and custom hardscapes, as well as a ground level plaza on the west side of the project.

Most of the building contains the Creative Studios where many of American Greetings’ products and ideas are developed for customers such as WalMart, Target, and features their Care Bear brand. The second floor features a complete sound-proof audio-visual studio suite. The third floor contains American Greetings’ Main Street public area. It has direct access to the 30,000 square foot courtyard, a Starbucks store, a full-sized commercial kitchen and restaurant, design display studios, and of course a full- service greeting card and gift shop. Administrative offices occupy the fifth floor.

More than 5500 light fixtures and 120 light fixture types adorn the halls, offices, studios, and public spaces. The project is fed with (2) 38kv utility services to (2) 5000A, 480/277v services to the building, along with a 2000A service to the future Retail spaces. A 1250kw generator and 250kw UPS System provide the customer with power to Life Safety and Data systems throughout the building. Over 150,000 feet of conduit; 350,000 feet of AC Cable; 100,000 feet of fire alarm cable; and 150,000 feet of low-voltage cable were run on the project. Almost 100 IBEW members at the peak of the project were employed to install the miles of conduit, cable, and electrical equipment necessary to make this project a success.