CLEVELAND — Medical Mutual of Ohio has decided to leave its headquarters building in downtown Cleveland. The health insurance company has announced plans to relocate all of its Northeast Ohio staff to Brooklyn starting in January 2023.
The news may not come as a total surprise. Medical Mutual has been consolidating its operations over the past few years.
In 2019, the company agreed to rent 345,000 square feet of space at what used to be American Greetings' headquarters in Brooklyn, just off of Tiedeman Road.
So what's the reason for the move? 3News received the following statement from Medical Mutual on Tuesday:
"Like many other companies, we now have the majority of our staff on a hybrid schedule or working from home. We have very few employees currently working full time in the Rose Building. As a mutual company, we have to weigh the economic feasibility of maintaining multiple underutilized sites in Northeast Ohio with the responsibility we have toward our members, who are a top priority. We are exploring all options for the Rose Building. We look forward to working with the City of Cleveland and the Downtown Cleveland Alliance to ensure the building’s future will contribute to a vibrant downtown."
Medical Mutual currently has 250 employees working at the Rose Building on East 9th Street, the building that has served as the company's home for 75 years. The company expects more than 900 staffers will be stationed in Brooklyn, many of them will work from home part time.
After the move at the start of the new year, Brooklyn will serve as Medical Mutual's new headquarters. The company is already using the main office space at the former American Greetings site. Other companies are utilizing warehouse space there, while Amazon has also opened up a new delivery station on the property.
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