Bedrock hires senior director of operations and leasing for Tower City

Bedrock, the Detroit-based owner of key properties in the heart of downtown Cleveland, has tapped Jason Russell as its senior director of operations and leasing at the Tower City complex.

Russell, who joined Bedrock this week, is part of a homegrown team that the company is assembling to guide the future of Tower City, nearby buildings and land along the Cuyahoga River.

Last year, Bedrock hired Christopher Noble, a Northeast Ohio native with deep experience in retail real estate, as its local senior vice president of development. Deb Janik, who spent 17 years leading real estate and business-growth initiatives at the Greater Cleveland Partnership, joined Bedrock this month as its senior vice president of business development.

Russell previously was the neighborhood general manager at the Van Aken District, a mixed-use development in Shaker Heights. Before that, he worked as a site-selection and development specialist for the Zaremba Group and served as a planner for the city of Lakewood.

“Jason’s decade of well-rounded experience in real estate, planning, operations and dedication to relationship-building were the exact expertise we were looking to add to our Tower City team,” Ivy Greaner, Bedrock’s chief operating officer, said in a news release. “His strategic approach and engagement will be essential as Bedrock’s investment in the Cleveland market evolves in the coming years.”

In July, Bedrock announced its plans to remake Tower City as a “marketplace,” with a fresh mix of retailers, pop-up shops, restaurants and entertainment venues. The company is focused both on short-term revitalization of the mall and long-term redevelopment of the 366,000-square-foot space.

“I look forward to hitting the ground running in my new role with Bedrock,” Russell said in the news release. “With a solid foundation in place, it’s exhilarating to join the esteemed Cleveland team.”

Though Bedrock announced the hire Thursday, Jan. 27, Greaner dropped the news earlier in the week, during an episode of the Landscape podcast produced by Crain’s. You can listen to that interview here.