Michael Deemer 

CEO & President 

Downtown Cleveland Alliance 

Michael Deemer serves as President and CEO of Downtown Cleveland Alliance (DCA), where he sets organizational goals and strategic direction for the largest Special Improvement District, employment hub, and residential downtown in the state of Ohio. DCA, a non-profit 501(c)(3), is dedicated to improving the pedestrian experience for people who work, live, and play in Downtown Cleveland and attracting additional private investment to the Central Business District. 

When Mr. Deemer joined the Alliance in 2011 as Executive Vice President of Development, he established the Business Development Center, a single point of contact and go-to resource for Downtown Cleveland’s public and private partners. Today, the Center leads initiatives for office tenant attraction and retention, resident attraction, retail attraction, market research, and public policy advocacy. Mr. Deemer’s efforts have yielded a 14% growth in private sector jobs since the Great Recession and helped reach the milestone of 20,000 residents in Downtown Cleveland. 

As Executive Vice President of Business Development, Mr. Deemer also served as in-house general counsel and chaired DCA’s Real Estate Advisory Group; the Real Estate Lending Advisory Group; the Talent Attraction & Recruitment Advisory Group; and the Downtown Mobility Working Group. He co-chaired the Downtown Housing Demand Analysis Steering Committee, including representatives from the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County and nine neighborhood partners, to generate a report that was critical to the strategic planning of Downtown Cleveland’s real estate priorities. Additionally, Mr. Deemer led the Cleveland-based effort to save Federal and Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits, working with stakeholders to develop and implement legislation, public relations, content marketing and other initiatives. 

He has been recognized by Crain’s Cleveland Business as a “40 Under 40” honoree, by the Ohio Senate for outstanding service to the state of Ohio, and by the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio for outstanding legislative service on the Ohio Homebuyers’ Protection Act. Mr. Deemer is a member of Leadership Cleveland’s Class of 2019 and is an International Downtown Association (IDA) Emerging Leaders Fellow. He also served as Vice Chair of the 2019 IDA Top Issues Council on Housing Attainability. 

Mr. Deemer earned degrees from Ohio University (B.A., Political Science and Spanish), the University of Notre Dame (M.A., International Peace Studies), and the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law (J.D.).