SPR Therapeutics, a privately held medical device company, has dramatically expanded its headquarters office at Metropolitan Plaza in Highland Hills as it prepares to start hiring people as part of efforts to expand sales nationally for its primary product.
The company has signed a long-term lease for 29,000 square feet, an expansion of 21,000 square feet from its current 8,000-square-foot office in the building, according to a news release from CBRE, which represents the building at 22901 Millcreek Blvd. The additional room makes the company a full-floor tenant on the building's fifth floor.
Maria E. Bennett, SPR Therapeutics founder, president and CEO, said in an interview Monday, Jan. 24, that the company needed the room because its staff here will double to 60 from 30 over the next year as it adds people to handle the expansion. The company plans to boost its number of sales territories to 50 by year-end, from about 20 now.
"We're very excited about the growth," Bennett said, which is possible because the company recently completed its largest fundraise to date, a series B round that was oversubscribed at $37 million.
During the pandemic, the company has followed a hybrid office model because it felt it needed the in-office collaboration to grow as well as take care of the safety of its staffers. The new space will include several "collaboration spaces," more meeting rooms and will incorporate a standing desk system to promote staff wellness, Bennett said.
The company looked at multiple locations in the region but opted to stay in its current building because the area has been convenient for visitors and employees, and the building has nice amenities.
"It's pretty much a buyer's market for office tenants," she said. "There's a lot of space available, and landlords are willing to negotiate."
SPR Therapeutics did not look outside the region because it was founded here, its product is an outgrowth of Bennett's graduate work at Case Western Reserve University, and its top customers are the Cleveland Clinic and Lake Health.
The company also has offices in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Minneapolis. It currently has a total national staff of 120.
Rafi Lipschitz, an investment manager at Shelbourne Global Solutions, a Brooklyn, New York, company that owns the building, said the ownership felt the lease supported its vision for the building following a substantial investment to upgrade it.
Andrew Coleman, a CBRE first vice president who is part of a CBRE team handling the Shelbourne property, said keeping the tenant is a validation of the building's location and the investment in the structure. He noted the lease is a substantial one for a suburban location.
Weber Wood Medinger and Kevin Riley, an agent at Totem Realty Advisors in Pittsburgh, represented SPR Therapeutics.
SPR Therapeutics' expanded space will allow for the support of its Peripheral Nerve Stimulator called SPRINT, which offers a minimally invasive, 60-day treatment designed to deliver significant and sustained pain relief while offering a system that is easy to use.
