FedEx Ground Package Systems signed a 30-year lease in October of 2008 for a 330,750-sf facility in Fairfield, Calif. The building is three times the size of FedEx’s existing facility in Benicia, Calif. FedEx will construct additional office facilities at the site to support its administrative, distribution, and shipping operations. Occupancy is slated for spring of 2009.
Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. will begin construction in January of 2010 on a $96 million data center in New Albany, Ohio. The 120,000-sf facility will be sited on 45 acres in the New Albany Research and Information District. Completion is slated for December of 2011.
Siemens Healthcare broke ground on a 143,000-sf training and service facility on its Cary, N.C., campus in August of 2008. Slated for occupancy in early 2010, the six-story building will house offices, training rooms, parking, and a cafeteria. The $57 million project will house administrative and customer support operations for Siemens’ medical technologies and will create an additional 300 jobs. LEED certification will be sought for the facility.
Hewlett-Packard will build a 150,000-sf technical support center in Conway, Ark. Site work will begin for the $30 million project in August of 2008. The general contractor is Conway Development Corp. LEED certification for sustainable design will be sought for the facility.
Trammell Crow has selected Gilbane Building Company to construct the 871,000-sf Discovery Tower in downtown Houston at an estimated cost of $156 million. Designed by Gensler Architects, the 30-story tower will have 10 wind turbines at the top of the structure that will harvest renewable energy by generating electricity.
Monsanto broke ground on its $6 million Learning Center in Gothenburg, Neb., in July of 2008. The 25,000-sf facility will support agricultural implementation of Monsanto’s grain hybrids. The project includes expansion of the company’s existing Gothenburg research facility and the creation of test plots. Completion is slated for April of 2009.
Canon Americas will construct a 690,000-sf headquarters in Huntington, N.Y. Sited on 52 acres, the facility will include sustainable design elements such as natural lighting and energy efficient building systems. The project will accommodate up to 2,500 employees. Completion is slated for year-end 2010.
Google will develop a 1.2 million-sf administrative and R&D campus on 42 acres at the Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif. Google has signed a 40-year lease with NASA for the site that can be extended up to 90 years at an initial rent of $3.66 million per year. The campus will include offices, research and development space, conference rooms, housing, dining, and other amenities. Construction will begin in 2013.
Chevron’s Gulf of Mexico Business Unit (GOMBU) celebrated the opening of its new Northpark headquarters in Covington, La., in May of 2008. The 300,000-sf headquarters utilizes advanced technology to manage shelf operations and features a visualization center and 18 technology-enabled team rooms and asset decision environments linking offshore and onshore personnel. Northpark is the company's first LEED-certified building and the first LEED-Gold building in the state of Louisiana.
Northrop Grumman Corp. will initiate construction in mid-2008 on a 100,000-sf laboratory and office building in Huntsville, Ala. The facility represents the second phase of the four-building, $80 million Cummings Research Park and will enable Northrop Grumman to consolidate area operations.
Westinghouse Electric Company has selected Turner Construction Company to serve as the general contractor for a new $216 million headquarters campus for nuclear power engineering. Sited on 83 acres near Pittsburgh in Cranberry Township, Pa., the three-building, 844,595-sf Class A office facility will seek LEED certification. Completion is slated for the second quarter of 2010.
Microsoft opened Building 99 in Redmond, Wash. in November of 2007. Featuring flexible floor plans for optimal workplace customization, the new Microsoft Research headquarters can be adapted to accommodate changes in business groups. The facility houses individual offices, spaces with open floor plans, and alternative workspaces with removable walls. The building also includes a large atrium, meeting rooms, and places for spontaneous employee interaction. The new four-story facility is the first to open as part of a larger campus expansion and redevelopment plan.
IBM is creating a sustainable business consultancy program called Green Sigma. Based on the Six Sigma management methodologies, the service will help companies reduce the carbon footprint of their business processes. Part of IBM's Big Green Innovations division, Green Sigma has formulated best practices guidelines that will be implemented in IBM’s internal pilot program and eventually by external clients. IBM is entering the carbon management services arena as part of an effort to become a green technologies and services provider.
Monsanto Company completed construction of its $21 million, 40,000-sf data center in Creve Coeur, Mo. in September of 2007. The 40,000-sf facility, supporting the company’s global data and computation needs, began construction in early 2006. It is capable of withstanding up to 200 mile-per-hour winds and earthquakes up to 5.0 on the Richter scale. Monsanto expects to receive LEED certification for the facility, making it the first LEED certified data center in the state.
Ware Malcomb’s Los Angeles office has completed the design of the 2300 Empire Center located at 2300 West Empire Boulevard in Burbank, California. Higgins Development Partners, along with equity partner Walton Street Capital, both of Chicago, Illinois, are developing the project. Construction began on August 20, 2007 on the 7-story, steel-framed Class A office building totaling approximately 363,000 sf.
