History
The King Group was founded in 1984 as the first tenant representation commercial real estate firm in Cleveland, Ohio. Today, the King Group is one of the area’s more prominent developers and investors. Since 1989, the King Group has been involved in some of the most prestigious properties in the greater Cleveland area, including developing major suburban office buildings, acquiring and repositioning office, industrial, and multi-family properties, and more recently the acquisition and disposition of a one-million square foot, ‘Class A’ office portfolio in the east suburban market of Cleveland, Ohio.
In 1986, The King Group developed and constructed its first office building at 6611 Rockside Road, Independence, Ohio, also known as the FCSU Corporate Center. Shortly thereafter, in 1988, they developed and built 25 Park Place, a multi-tenant office building in Beachwood, Ohio, which also became The King Group’s new corporate headquarters. In 1989, The King Group started construction on its first office flex park, in Oakwood Village, Ohio. This consisted of six separate buildings totaling approximately 170,000 square feet. Today, Access Point II is a successful office flex park, with a primary focus on biomedical and technology companies.
In 1990, The King Group developed Valley Tech Center in Valley View, Ohio, a 52,000 square foot, office technology center that housed a number of corporations, including divisions of General Electric and IBM. In 1994, The King Group acquired the Chagrin Richmond Plaza building in Beachwood, Ohio. The King Group quickly revitalized and turned around the property and ever since, Chagrin Richmond Plaza has been one of the premier office buildings in the I-271 / Chagrin corridor. In 2001, The King Group developed and built Essex Place, an 80,000 square foot, Class ‘A’ office property in Independence, Ohio. Within 18 months, the property was fully leased, including major tenants, Medical Mutual, Sprint Communications, and American Express. Essex Place was later sold in 2010.
In 2005, The King Group acquired, out of foreclosure, from American Express, the Parkway Medical buildings on Park East Drive in Beachwood, Ohio. King completely renovated both properties in a period of a few years, leased the vacant spaces to a number of independent medical practices, and University Hospitals. In 2010, The King Group sold the property to a California Healthcare REIT, at a very advantageous price. In 2007, The King Group orchestrated one of the largest suburban office transactions in Northeast Ohio. They helped acquire the former 1,000,000 square foot Duke, Class ‘A’ Office Portfolio, at a price of $165,000,000. In 2009, The King Group completed the largest lease transaction in the area, signing Nationwide Insurance to 90,000 square feet at Metropolitan Plaza.
In 2013, The King Group was able to refinance the Rockside Square office park. This allowed us to renovate and refresh this well located, highly visible office property. In 2014, The King Group sold the Plaza 45 office building in Independence. This building was acquired back in 1996, which was a great investment for almost 20 years.