Conversion project gives RHM employees high design with warm, inviting, comfortable environment

Originally published in Properties Magazine, May 2022. Story by Christopher Johnston / Photos by John Tellaisha

John Joyce, founder and CEO of RHM Real Estate Group in Lyndhurst, spent several years searching for an existing suburban space for his company’s new corporate headquarters. He knew the fast-growing business needed more room.

“We’ve been incredibly fortunate to have experienced significant growth over the last decade, both in terms of our portfolio of assets and the number of employees in our corporate office,” Joyce says. “We took on additional space in our prior office about five years ago, but we outgrew it rather quickly.”

According to Joyce, the company employs more than 250 individuals, including 40 at its corporate headquarters. RHM Real Estate Group owns and manages approximately 10,000 multifamily suites across 13 states, including both market-rate and affordable properties. Through several strategic partnerships, RHM continues to actively expand its portfolio through acquisition of existing multifamily communities and the development of market-rate properties throughout the Midwest and Southeast.

Joyce sought to find an existing space that would feature exposed brick and industrial undertones. Such characteristics are fairly commonplace in older, downtown Cleveland buildings, but more difficult to find in the suburbs. Hoping to avoid a traditional office space in an industrial park, Joyce even considered building a new structure for RHM’s exclusive use.

Then the Lyndhurst Grill by J. Alexander restaurant closed permanently. Joyce jumped at the opportunity.

“The site checked two important boxes for me,” he recalls. “It was conveniently located off of I-217 for all of my employees, and, as a former restaurant, it offered distinctly unique architectural details that are incredibly difficult to recreate in a new facility.”

Teaming with a trusted architect

When it came time to select an architectural firm to work with, Joyce called on two longtime personal and professional friends, Scott and Analia Dimit from Dimit Architects LLC in Lakewood. He knew they were the best firm to engage for this project, as he had longed to work together with them on his new corporate offices.

“They’re one of the leading architectural firms in Ohio,” he says. “I have always admired their work, as each one of their projects is uniquely its own, and they were at my side from the moment I found out about the space.” Joyce adds that he was thrilled to collaborate from the initial floor plan design to selecting finishes.

According to Joyce, the company is based around a core set of values that drive the majority of its business decisions and relationships. Those six critical values are framed and prominently hung along one wall in the open, front portion of the new office space: Integrity, Will to Win, Be a Good Person, Driven, Accountable, and Teamwork.

Throughout the space, other framed expressions of affirmation are displayed. One sign in a hallway features a quote from Muppet creator and educational innovator Jim Henson, which reads, “Please watch out for each other and love and forgive everybody. It’s a good life, enjoy it.”

Joyce says his favorite spaces within the office are the common area amenities: a large coffee/informal meeting bar just inside the main entrance and a spacious kitchen and dining area with an outdoor grilling area. The former loading dock and trash storage area were completely remodeled into the kitchen and dining space as a treasured amenity for the RHM staff. A new glass garage door can be opened in nice weather to “bring the outdoors in.”

The kitchen and dining area is equipped with a gas range, refrigerator, beer taps, and a video gaming screen for relaxing get-togethers. The relaxing space is frequently employed for monthly events, and almost all of those revolve around food. Both recall the building’s former use as a restaurant.

“Being able to sit down with the team and enjoy a meal together – ones we typically cook ourselves – is something we all truly enjoy,” he says. “Having a work environment that promotes and encourages interaction and camaraderie between the employees was incredibly important to me.”

Reenergizing design

Analía Nanni Dimit, principal and director of interior architecture for Dimit Architects, confirms that the project team sensed immediately Joyce’s desire to create a friendly, comfortable place for his staff, and that the former restaurant space held significant potential to be adapted for office reuse. The central space boasts a wonderful, warm and inviting ambiance, highlighted by an exposed, rough-hewn wood-beam ceiling through which light filters from a clerestory above, and the interior walls are clad in exposed brick. The wooden roof trusses in the central office space established a darker, tranquil ambiance at the heart of the former dining establishment.

“Our team’s mission was to preserve what was already great about the existing space, while at the same time establishing a relaxed working environment and support spaces in which the RHM staff felt ‘right at home,’” she says.

Brightening the space

Dimit also preserved some of the existing, distinctive lighting fixtures that translated well to the project. Their design retained the original chandelier in the main entrance and some of the glass pendant fixtures, as well as existing floor and wall finishes in many locations throughout the building.

“The center of the original restaurant space was much darker and more suited for an intimate meal than an office environment,” Dimit says.

Additionally, the architects specified other methods to lighten the space. Certain windows, such as those in the front of the building where the bar was located, had been tinted and painted over to darken the ambiance. Those windows were uncovered, and exterior awnings along three sides of the exteriors were removed. They specified white and lighter colors for certain ceiling and wall areas, which helped to brighten the spaces. Finally, the conference room and most of the private offices feature large floor-to-ceiling internal windows that further augment natural light and views.

The color palette was chosen to harmonize with the existing industrial fabric of the space, Analia Dimit explains. A charcoal steel shade complements the exposed brick, wooden truss ceiling and polished concrete floors. White walls and finishes serve to lighten the space and provide contrast to heavier materials.

“We chose to feature leather prominently in our furniture selection,” she adds. “Our interior design includes photos taken by Dimit team member John Tellaisha of Cleveland’s weathered steel bridges and remnants of its industrial heritage that complement that material palette.”

Acknowledging Joyce’s wish list for RHM’s corporate headquarters, Dimit also chose finishes and flooring materials that felt true to the industrial flavor of the spaces. In some areas, such as the main lobby and open office area, the carpeting was removed, and the concrete floors were polished and left exposed as is. Lighter wood flooring and carpet with simple patterns were selected for other areas.

“John [Joyce] sought to create a space where his employees and guests felt welcome, productive, and empowered to collaborate and communicate,” Dimit says. “ For example, one of our design choices aimed towards encouraging communication and collaboration was to minimize drywall and maximize the use of glass throughout the space.”

Construction components

Scott Dimit highly recommended the general contractor, Jonathan Miozzi, president of Highland Heights-based Today’s Lifestyle Construction, Inc. (TLC). Miozzi met with Joyce to make sure they agreed on the approach to the project and, in February 2021, TLC started all of the significant renovation work to convert the former restaurant into RHM’s new offices.

After reviewing the drawings, the team began selective demolition to remove existing equipment, such as venting that went up through the roof and which wouldn’t be necessary for offices. The backbone of the electrical system was left as a cost savings measure because it would have been difficult to remove due to an existing, exposed tongue-and-groove wood ceiling.

The building’s structure is masonry load-bearing with a combination of timber-frame construction to support the metal roof, combined with metal joist and deck above the offices that TLC painted dark gray to blend with all of the color schemes.

The project team included engineers from WHS Engineering Inc. in Cleveland, who updated design of the venting and HVAC in the repurposed spaces to ensure a comfortable work environment. Minimal changes required for the HVAC system included new ductwork in what was the kitchen space that is now divided office spaces, while the open space required ductwork relocation.

“We added ductwork and distribution to properly condition the new layout and installed a new Zonex control system to provide better management,” Miozzi says. “That was important to ensure that the offices were tempered based on who’s in what offices and areas.”

One of the three existing rooftop HVAC units was replaced. A new metal canopy and signage was installed at the front entrance, and most of the existing awnings and lighting were removed.

In the former kitchen space, TLC had to level the floor due to the previous floor drain locations, and most of the sanitary piping was relocated. The existing flooring was replaced with luxury vinyl tile (LVT), polished concrete and carpeting.

“The other showpiece of the floor design was that we replaced the restaurant’s dining booths and raised seating on the higher level with chunky, wooden platform stairs,” Miozzi says.

He adds that another of his favorite construction features is the masonry columns that guests see as soon as they enter and which look as if they were just left in place. Actually, it was originally a wall with two giant end caps of masonry that TLC disassembled. The team then toothed back in the masonry bases of the columns to appear as if they were always there.

They also replaced the restaurant’s hostess stand with a striking, beautifully crafted and lit RHM sign. Visitors today are greeted by the receptionist seated under the soffit and archway immediately to the left and the open coffee bar to the right.

Where the bar once dominated the front of the restaurant, TLC built a sizeable conference room with windows to brighten the space but with window treatments to darken the space during presentations that require projections. Joyce’s office is adjacent to the conference room and has an entrance to a long patio.

Outside, the former restaurant was already well landscaped, providing visual respite as it’s situated in a neighborhood with office buildings on all sides. The landscaping, planters and patios all remain as is, with a small bit of modification as required for the more private office use.

TLC added a strongly secured RHM Real Estate Group sign behind the building to provide great high-profile visibility facing I-271.

TLC did encounter some COVID-related delays in the delivery of construction materials. “We weren’t hindered too much until the middle of last year, with key materials such as the overhead garage door and the wood flooring for the stairs up to the upper offices that we waited months for,” Miozzi says. “In fact, those items were installed just days before RHM moved in when we turned it over on September 10 last year.”

“Jon [Miozzi] and his team were fantastic to work with,” Joyce says. “They were extremely detail-oriented, organized and efficient throughout the entire process. They delivered on all of their promises and completed the project on time and within budget, which is extremely difficult to do in the current environment.”

“Throughout the process, RHM showed that they ‘walk it as they talk it’ with regards to their core values such as teamwork, accountability, and integrity,” says Analia Dimit.

Joyce adds that Dimit and TLC worked closely and seamlessly together throughout the entire project, which took slightly more than a year to complete.

“In an environment where so many people are working from home, to have a space where our team enjoys coming to work everyday is something that I will be forever grateful for and proud of,” Joyce concludes.