Ask Sherwin-Williams about a potential headquarters project search and Mike Conway, director of corporate communications, answers, “Assessing space, land and building and new paint store location needs, is nothing new, something we’ve been doing for 149 years as part of our regular business planning cycle.”

Conway said the paint and coatings company’s focus is on concluding the proposed acquisition of Valspar Inc. of Minneapolis. The $11.3 billion deal is scheduled to be closed early in 2017 if shareholders and regulators approve it. “It’s business as usual here at Landmark,” Conway said. However, the company for the first time last year leased 50,000 square feet across the street in the Skylight Office Tower, 1660 W. Second St. Sherwin-Williams would not disclose how many people or which of several teams it moved next door. Conway wrote in an email, “S-W has experienced dynamic growth over these past few years (i.e. nationwide we open one new paint store every three-to-four days) which have resulted in more downtown jobs and our need to expand into space in the adjacent Skylight Office building.” With the Valspar deal, Sherwin-Williams has said it intends to keep its headquarters in Cleveland and maintain what it describes as a “significant presence” in Minneapolis. At the same time, it has said it expects synergies from combining with Valspar, with growth opportunities in product lines and globally, as well as efficiencies that will benefit the companies and their customers. Whether the combination nets more headquarters jobs in Cleveland — and if so, how many — are obvious questions that remain unanswered. When an analyst asked about how many corporate costs could be cut in the consolidation during a March 21 conference call, Sean Hennessy, Sherwin-Williams’ chief financial officer, said, “I don’t think we’re ready to talk about anything like that.” He said the company would not elaborate beyond saying 42% of the $280 million in cost savings it expects will be in the area of selling, general and administrative expenses — which includes headquarters and a variety of other business overhead costs — from the proposed combination, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing of the conference call transcript. The big proposed acquisition, as well as a CEO transition to former chief operating officer John Morikis from long-term CEO Christopher Connor, surfaced since rumors started circulating in the real estate industry that the company had sized up sites for a new headquarters downtown. Insiders privately say the plans have varied, but have ranged from 600,000 to 900,000 square feet in size. Sherwin-Williams’ Conway argues the company may be able to expand within its footprint if law firms and other tenants in the building decide to move. Akron-based FirstMerit Corp. also has a branch and some offices in the complex that total 9,000 square feet, which may become available through the bank’s proposed merger with Columbus-based Huntington Bank. Others note the company could do short-term leases in other spaces for some workers.