In this week's issue:
- VW picks Chattanooga.
- Toyota goes with Mississippi and Texas.
- MillerCoors toasts Chicago as new HQs.
- General Re and GE to relocate HQs within Stamford.
- Plus, we give you expansion news of: Arnold Worldwide, Ashley Furniture, DMJM Harris, FedEx SmartPost, Fonterra USA, IBM, McDermott Will & Emery, Mercedes-Benz, Momentive Performance Materials, New America Foundation, Perrigo, PriceGrabber.com, ResMed, Syngenta Seeds, The Teaching Co., TIAA CREF Life Insurance, Tripwire, Tyson Foods, U.S. Foodservice and others.
VW Picks Tennessee
Volkswagen AG has picked Chattanooga, TN., for its new U.S. auto plant.
Sites in Alabama and Michigan were also considered for the plant, which is part of Volkswagen's strategy to increase its presence in America. The company closed its last U.S. production facility in 1988 in western Pennsylvania.
Volkswagen is the world's fourth largest automaker and will build the facility in the Enterprise South Industrial Park, 12 miles northeast of downtown Chattanooga. The 1,350-acre site is 100% owned by the city of Chattanooga and Hamilton County and is certified as an industrial megasite by the Tennessee Valley Authority. Production will begin in early 2011.
Volkswagen has approved up to $991.4 million to build the facility, with the plant aiming for a capacity of 150,000 cars a year. It plans to employ 2,000 workers when it starts production in 2011.
"The U.S. market is an important part of our volume strategy and we are now very resolutely accessing that market," said Martin Winterkorn, CEO of Volkswagen AG. "This plant represents a milestone in Volkswagen's growth strategy. We will be selling 800,000 Volkswagens in the U.S. by 2018, and this new site will play a key role. This, along with our growth strategy, is a prerequisite for the economic success of the company in the dollar region. We look forward to establishing an important mainstay for ourselves when we become the biggest European carmaker in the U.S."
The company holds only a 2% share of the U.S. market.
Jones Lang LaSalle represented Volkswagen of Group America Inc., on the site selection and incentive negotiations for their new U.S. automotive production facility. The Staubach team members included senior vice president, Gregory Lubar - project leader and senior vice president, Keith Scott - incentives negotiation leader. Additional critical players included vice president, Allen Tucker and senior vice president, Rich Thompson - logistics consulting and senior vice president, Andrew Jones - head of design, construction and consulting services. the business and economic incentive team also included Hilary Holmes, Angela Carrier and Jess Andrews.
Toyota Picks Mississippi and Texas
Toyota is responding to changes in consumer demand and improving the production efficiency and stability of its North American operations by adjusting production mix at three plants. The changes include the addition of the Prius hybrid sedan to its North American lineup.
Prius will be built at a plant under construction in Blue Springs, MS. Production is scheduled to begin in late 2010. Prius, which will join the Kentucky-built Camry Hybrid as the second Toyota hybrid built in North America, enables Toyota to better respond to increased consumer demand for hybrid vehicles.
The Highlander mid-size SUV, originally scheduled to be built in Mississippi, will now be manufactured in Princeton, IN, beginning in fall 2009.
Production of the Tundra full-size pick-up truck, currently built in Indiana and Texas, will be consolidated at the San Antonio plant in spring 2009.
In addition, Toyota will temporarily suspend Tundra and Sequoia production beginning Aug. 8 due to the declining overall market for full size trucks and SUVs. Production is scheduled to resume in early November. Team members at both facilities, as well as the Huntsville, AL, plant that builds Tundra and Sequoia engines, will continue to be provided work.
"The truck market continues to worsen, so unfortunately we must temporarily suspend production. But this good news about production mix demonstrates our long-term commitment to our North American operations and to our team members, supplier partners, and communities where our plants are located," said Jim Wiseman, vice president/external affairs for Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America (TEMA). "By using this downturn as an opportunity to develop team members and improve our operations, we hope to emerge even stronger."
MillerCoors Toasts Chicago as New HQs
MillerCoors, the new joint venture between SABMiller PLC and Molson Coors, it will locate its headquarters in downtown Chicago. The company will bring between 300 and 400 executive and management jobs to the city beginning in June 2009.
The decision comes after an extensive search in Chicago and Dallas, under the guidance of The Staubach Co.
"The decision to select Chicago as the location for our corporate headquarters was made to achieve our goal of becoming the best beer company in America by having access to an attractive base of talent, transportation and business resources," said Tom Long President MillerCoors.
MillerCoors is finalizing its exact building location within Chicago. The City of Chicago has offered TIF, dependent on the building selection and City Council approval. In addition, the State of Illinois is offering EDGE tax credit and employer training grants, as well as a business development grant. MillerCoors may also be eligible for additional grants and incentives, pending final building selection.
General Re & GE To Relocate HQs Within Stamford
By: Brooke Koch
General Reinsurance Corp. signed a 20-year lease to move its headquarters down the road to the GE Energy Financial Services facility at 120 Long Ridge Road in Stamford, CT.
The firm will relocate in January from 695 E. Main St. in Stamford to occupy the entire 310,000-square-foot building, which is owned by Building & Land Technology. Built in 1968, the Class A building sits on 60 acres in Fairfield County.
The GE unit, too, is moving down the road to the 275,000-square-foot office building at 800 Long Ridge. It plans to move next year to the former Xerox Corp. headquarters, a property also in Building & Land Technology's portfolio.
General Reinsurance Corp. secured a $9 million loan from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development for equipment and fixtures. It will also be eligible for nearly $19.5 million in Urban and Industrial Sites Reinvestment tax credits.
After a 16-month evaluation, Gen Re executives said the Westchester County, NY, and Fairfield County, CT, markets were optimal locations because they offer a skilled labor force and convenient access to many transit options.
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Expansions & Relocations
Arnold Worldwide signed a 29,731-square-foot lease at 1310 North Courthouse Road in Arlington, VA. John F. Hennessey, SIOR of GVA Williams represented the advertising agency.
Ashley Furniture leased 126,596 square feet at AMB Property's 750 Veterans Parkway in Bolingbrook, IL. The term was five years and three months. David A. Bercu, SIOR, principal, and Carter A. Andrus, senior vice president, both with Colliers Bennett & Kahnweiler Inc.'s Industrial Services Group, represented AMB. Ben Cremer of NAI Hiffman represented Ashley Furniture.
Constant Contact Inc., a provider of e-mail marketing and online surveys for small businesses, will be expanding beyond its current corporate headquarters in Waltham, MA, and has chosen McWhinney's Centerra development in Loveland, CO, as its second regional location. Constant Contact will be moving into a 50,000-square-foot build-to-suit office building on Precision Drive. The company plans to employ up to 500 workers at the new location. McWhinney is leading the development and construction of the new project. Delivery of the project is scheduled for the first half of 2009. (By: Elizabeth Shaver)
Continental Tire North America Inc. plans to invest more than $60 million in its Mt. Vernon, IL, facility in the next three years. These investments will significantly expand its tire operations.
DMJM Harris Inc., the U.S. transportation flagship operation of AECOM Technology Corp., signed a lease for 59,652 square feet at Mack-Cali Realty's 30 Knightsbridge Road in Piscataway, NJ. The lease carries a term of 10 years. Joseph Sarno of Cushman & Wakefield of New Jersey Inc. and Ness Hamaoui of Cushman & Wakefield of California Inc. represented DMJM Harris. Toni Casiano, senior director of leasing, represented Mack-Cali in-house
FedEx SmartPost signed a 150,527-square-foot lease with Dallas-based developer Hillwood at Building 3 of the Desoto Trade Center in Southaven, MS. Dan Wilkinson of Colliers Wilkinson Snowden represented the landlord. Fred Placke of Fischer & Co. represented the tenant. (By: Heather Berwanger)
Fonterra USA Inc., one of the world's largest dairy companies, plans to move its domestic corporate headquarters to Rosemont, IL. Fonterra, a wholly owned subsidiary of New Zealand-based Fonterra Co-Operative Group, will lease roughly 21,500 square feet of space at the Columbia Centre III office building at 9525 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. The office will employ approximately 80 people. Joseph Arnstein, senior managing director of the Chicago office of Studley Inc, represented Fonterra. In addition, Jason I. Lake, principal of Chicago-based NexGen Advisors, provided financial and government relationship consulting. Fred Ishler, senior vice president with Transwestern, represented building ownership.
Gibbs Technologies, a developer of high-speed amphibious vehicles, will open a new North American headquarters and product development center in Auburn Hills, MI, this fall. The company expects to invest more than $13 million in equipment and infrastructure improvements at the 37,500-square-foot facility on a two-acre tract at 2046 Brown Road. Gibbs has operated from a temporary headquarters facility in Plymouth, MI, for the past nine months.
Hill Physicians signed a lease with Sunset Development to begin moving its headquarters to an 85,000-square-foot office space at 2409 Camino Ramon in San Ramon, CA, in January of 2009. The Northern California HMO will begin by relocating its 2001 Crow Canyon Road office in January to be followed by its 2401 Crow Canyon Road office in the succeeding 12 months. Bill Dougherty of Cushman & Wakefield’s Walnut Creek office represented Hill Physicians. (By: Clayton Constable)
IBM inked a 10-year deal to occupy 75,000 square feet of office space in a newly constructed office building at 36500 Corporate Drive in Farmington Hills, MI. Ground breaking on the 150,000-square-foot office building is expected to occur the latter part of the third quarter. The scheduled move-in date for IBM is August of next year. IBM will vacate its current location at 18000 Nine Mile Road in Southfield. David Haboian represented the building owner, Kojaian Management, in-house. Daniel Canvasser, Raymond Husband and JB Byrnes, all of Grubb & Ellis, represented IBM. (By: Beverly Robinson)
McDermott Will & Emery LLP signed a lease for 25,580 square feet at Wells Fargo Plaza at 1000 Louisiana St. in Houston, TX. The law firm will move into the 39th floor this fall. Dave Hanusa and Bonnie Kelley of CB Richard Ellis represented the landlord. Lois Zambo and Mark O'Donnell of Studley represented the tenant. (By: Dameon Makinde)
Mercedes-Benz purchased the former Chrysler design center in Carlsbad, CA, for $6.9 million, or about $198 per square foot. Mercedes-Benz plans to move its Advanced Design Studio from Irvine, CA, to the space. David Crabb, Herb Hafter, Jeff Babikian, and Roger Carlson of CB Richard Ellis represented the buyer. Bruce Hoffman and Lindsay Hill of UGL Equis represented the seller. (By: Ryan Ross)
Merchants Terminal Corp., a company that specializes in temperature-controlled warehousing and transportation, acquired the 13-acre land parcel at 2122 Broening Highway in Baltimore, MD, from Duke Realty Corp. for about $5.7 million or $438,300 per acre. It will build a cold storage distribution facility on the property within the Chesapeake Commerce Center. It is adjacent to I-95, I-895 and the Port of Baltimore's Seagirt Marine Terminal and is served by two railroads. Phase 1 construction will total 155,000 square feet; 6.1 million cubic feet of temperature-controlled space with 16,300 specialized rack positions. Phase 2 will be of a similar size. ARCO Design/Build of Atlanta will design and construct Phase 1 of the project. John Macsherry, Jr. represented Duke in-house. Michael Royce of Jones Land LaSalle Americas Inc. represented Merchants Terminal. (By: Melannie Skinner)
Momentive Performance Materials Inc. plans to build a state-of-the-art technology center and global headquarters in Rensselaer County, NY. The new facilities will employ 250 people with a total annual payroll of approximately $38 million. Construction of the Technology Center is expected to begin in 2009 and will cost approximately $65 million and will employ 130 people. The company's global headquarters building will be constructed following completion of the Technology Center at a cost of approximately $16 million. The headquarters will employ 120 people. The company has not finalized the site of the new facilities, but has narrowed the field to several locations. The company expects to make the final decision shortly. Plans are already underway to relocate the company's headquarters to the Capital District beginning Aug. 1. Momentive is presently headquartered in Wilton, CT with some corporate staff at its manufacturing facility in Waterford, NY. The company's interim global headquarters will be at 22 Corporate Woods Blvd. in Albany, NY.
Natco Group Inc. broke ground on a research and development center at 4901 North Sam Houston Parkway in Houston, TX. The facility is across from Natco's corporate headquarters and will replace an R&D center Natco uses in Tulsa, OK. The planned 30,000-square-foot facility essentially triples the size of Natco's current R&D operations.
New America Foundation signed an 11-year, 23,836-square-foot office lease with 1899 L Street Tower LLC at 1899 L St. NW in Washington, DC. Transwestern senior vice presidents, Peter Prominski and Mark Richardson, represented the landlord, BlackRock Realty.
Orlando Regional Healthcare System leased the 89,644-square-foot Crownpointe IV industrial building at 7312 Kingspointe Parkway in Orlando, FL. The company will fully occupy the facility, which was developed in 2006 by McDonald Development Co. and is in the Crownpointe Commerce Park. Southern Commercial's William "Bo" Bradford represented Orlando Regional Healthcare System. Tom McFadden of Southern Commercial represented the landlord, TR Crownpointe Corp. (By: Sarah Carver)
Perrigo Co., a manufacturer of over-the-counter health care products, intends to invest $10.5 million to expand its facilities at its world headquarters in Allegan, MI. The expansion will add 400 jobs during the next five years, provide operations and training space and set the stage for the company's future growth. The expansion is aided by tax credits approved today by the state of Michigan. The tax credits are valued at $8.4 million during the next 12 years. In addition to the state's support, the City of Allegan anticipates approval of real and personal property tax abatements with an estimated value of $1.4 million.
PriceGrabber.com, a comparison-shopping web site, executed a sublease deal for 45,059 square feet of office space at 5140-5150 W. Goldleaf Circle in Los Angeles. The company, which is expected to move in this September, will occupy the entire second floor of the building. The space was previously occupied by BAE Systems and was being marketed for sublease. Dave Toomey and Brian Davies of CresaPartners represented PriceGrabber. Gerald Porter and Matthew Miller, also of CresaPartners, represented BAE Systems. (By: Adrian Robles)
Regal Wine Imports Inc. signed a 25,895-square-foot lease for its headquarters at Mack-Cali Realty's 2 Commerce Drive in Moorestown, NJ. The lease carries a term of 10 years. Kirk Miller of Cushman & Wakefield of New Jersey represented Regal Wine Imports Inc.. Tim O'Brien, leasing director, represented mack-Cali in-house.
ResMed signed a 130,000-square-foot lease at Ridge Property Trust's Centerpointe Business Park in Moreno Valley, CA, near the intersection of the 60 and 215 freeways in the eastern Inland Empire. ResMed, a manufacturer and marketer of sleep and respiratory disorders products, will use the facility as its West Coast distribution center. ResMed anticipates the facility will be operational in October. Walt Chenoweth with CBRE represented ResMed. Jeff Ruscigno, Lee & Associates, and Jim Panting, Commercial Realty Advisors, represented Ridge Property Trust.
Syngenta Seeds and Opus Northwest LLC broke ground for Syngenta's new headquarters in Minnetonka, MN. The new 110,000-square-foot facility will be home to North American operations for the Syngenta's Field Crop Division and will centralize more than 400 employees who are currently working in several locations across the Twin Cities and Midwest regions. The three-story Class A building is going up at the corner of I-394 and Hopkins Crossroad in Phase I of the Crest Ridge Corporate Center. Syngenta plans to lease the building from Opus. (By: Matthew Burdette)
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) leased the 285,000-square-foot Continental Plaza office complex in Sacramento, CA, which it will occupy in September 2009. The 10-year deal includes a 10-year renewal option. CHP will fully occupy the complex, which consists of three buildings on N. 7th Street in the heart of the River District. Murray Wachtel and Devon Atlee of Cornish & Carey/Oncor International represented CHP. Bill Newland, Toss Vallentine and Clyde Rawlings of Grubb & Ellis represented the landlord. (By: Ann O'Brien)
The Teaching Company LLC leased 47,797 square feet of office space at Normandy Real Estate Partners' Stoneleigh II, in the Westfields Corporate Park in the Route 28 submarket of Chantilly, VA. Dan Evans, Steve Ranck and Jake Katz of the Staubach Co. Cassidy represented the Teaching Company and Pinkard Colliers brokered the deal on behalf of Normandy.
TIAA CREF Life Insurance signed a seven-year lease with Beacon Capital Partners, a Boston-based REIT, for 29,461-square-feet at One Beacon in Boston. A fourth quarter occupancy is planned. Jay Driscoll, Jim Brady and Rebecca Galeota of Cushman & Wakefield represented the landlord. Christopher Cuddy of CB Richard Ellis-New England represented the tenant. (By: Melanie Lamb)
Tripwire, a provider of configuration control for virtual and physical infrastructures, signed a five-year lease to relocate its Portland headquarters to One Main Place downtown, from its current location in the Historic U.S. Bank Block. Tripwire will occupy 36,000 square feet in its new facility. The company employs 226 people worldwide, with 155 coming to work at its Portland headquarters.
Tyson Foods and Syntroleum Corp. plans to build and fund a renewable synthetic fuels facility in Geismar, LA. The plant will convert low grade, inedible fats and greases into renewable transportation fuels for the military and civilian markets. The project budget is $138 million. Construction is expected to begin in October, and mechanical completion of the plant is expected by year-end 2009.
U.S. Foodservice expanded its lease to include nearly 99,000 square feet at Duke Realty's Riverway East at 6133 N. River Road and Riverway West at 9399 W. Higgins Road in Rosemont, IL. U.S. Foodservice will expand into approximately 25,000 square feet at Riverway later this month. The Columbia, MD-based company, which markets and distributes more than 43,000 national, private label and signature brand items across the United States, continues to consolidate its operations to the centrally Riverway. Upon occupancy, Riverway will be U.S. Foodservice's largest office and employee base in the country. David Saad and Chris Reynolds of CB Richard Ellis represented U.S. Foodservice. Ryan O'Leary, vice president of Duke's Chicago Office Group, represented Duke in house.
For news of retail expansions, see
CoStar's Retail News Roundup, a weekly report on retail expansion plans, acquisitions/mergers/sales, closings, bankruptcies and more written by Sasha M. Pardy, senior news editor.
For news of companies with increasing space needs, see
Expansions & Relocations, a weekly column of major corporate headquarters expansions and relocations.
For news of companies shedding commercial space, see
Closures & Layoffs, a weekly listing of future corporate downsizings.
For news of property financing and a listing of loans nearing their maturity, see
Property Finance, a weekly column of commercial real estate finance news and loan leads.
For news of properties about to go through a change of ownership, see
Under Contract, a weekly listing of properties to be sold or acquired.
For news of distressed properties, see
Watch List, a weekly column of property and credit market conditions and real estate investment opportunities.