Corporate

Financial services company KeyCorp's Tiedeman campus in Brooklyn, Ohio, has been certified by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) as a green building, making it the first financial services complex to earn this designation in Ohio. KeyCorp participated in the USGBC's new rating system called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB). The Tiedeman property, a former brownfield site, is a 750,000-sf technology and operations campus comprised of two buildings and a parking garage.

Tyson Foods is engaged in an approximately 285,000-sf expansion of its Springdale, Ark., world headquarters. The $85-to $95-million project is comprised of a new 174,000-sf, four-story office tower connecting to the existing facility; and a Discovery center--a research, development and training complex. The Discovery Center complex will also include a separate 63,000-sf building housing 18 test kitchens, a retail presentation kitchen, a foodservice presentation kitchen, and a "kitchen of the future". The building will also have office space for 125 people.

FedEx Ground will open a new 215,000-sf automated distribution facility in Pompano Beach, Fla., by summer of 2006. Sited on 27 acres, the facility is part of the company's $1.8 billion network expansion and will consolidate FedEx Ground's operations in Fort Lauderdale with the FedEx Home Delivery facility in Pompano Beach.

Atlanta-based United Parcel Service has opened three new facilities in China. The warehousing and distribution centers include a 160,000-sf facility in the Wai Gao Free Trade Zone in Shanghai, a 240,000-sf facility in a Free Trade Zone in Futian, and a 66,000-sf facility in Suzhou designed for high-tech customers.

Sysco Corp. is planning to invest $37 million in a new distribution center in Selma, N.C. The 300,000-sf facility will be sited on 80 acres in Johnston County. Construction is expected to begin in spring 2005.

Target Corp. will begin site work in 2005 on a new 1.5 million-sf regional distribution center in Midway, Ga. Located in Liberty County's 4,700-acre MidCoast Business Center, the facility will initially employ 500 when it reaches completion in summer of 2007.

Shell Shared Services Asia-BV has completed construction of its business operations center in Makati City, Philippines. The 35,200-sf facility was designed by Barone Design Group to support key internal business and customer service functions and will accommodate 288 workspaces. The facility is located on two floors in the RCBC Plaza.

Kohl's Corp. is planning to enlarge its existing 530,000-sf Menomonee Falls, Wis., headquarters facility with a 350,000-sf expansion. The project will add over 1,000 new jobs to the 1,500 workers that the company currently employs at the site. Three million dollars in state tax credits will help fund the expansion.

Microsoft Corp. is planning to expand its existing 8 million-sf headquarters campus in Redmond, Wash., by approximately 2 million sf over the next ten to twenty years. The expansion will accommodate up to 12,000 additional workers. The first facility in the development plan is slated for occupancy by 2007.

Nielsen Media Research (NMR), a provider of television audience measurement and monitoring services, has completed its new $71.5 million, 39-acre corporate campus in Oldsmar, Fla. The 475,000-sf Phase I campus consists of five interconnected buildings which include training rooms, conference facilities, and a 4,000-sf employee cafeteria that can accommodate over 330 people. The project features a four-story, 100,000-sf data center and central plant with a 25,000-sf computer room.

FedEx Ground will construct a 247,000-sf distribution center on 75 acres in Kennesaw, Ga. Tripling the size of the current FedEx Ground terminal in Marietta (which it will replace), the facility will feature high technology materials handling systems and will be capable of processing 15,000 packages per hour when it opens in summer of 2006. In 2010 the facility is expected to be converted to a 322,000-sf hub able to sort 30,000 packages per hour.  

The Northeastern Association of the Blind at Albany celebrated the beginning of its $3-million headquarters renovation in Albany, N.Y. on October 28, 2004. Designed by Collins + Scoville Architects P.C., the project will improve access and double the Association's footprint for a total of 56,000 sf. The general contractor for the renovation is Sano-Rubin Construction.  Completion is slated for late 2005.

H&R Block initiated construction on its $138-million headquarters in downtown Kansas City in October 2004. Slated for completion in late 2006, the facility will house approximately 1,500 employees currently stationed at four disparate Kansas City locations. The headquarters will feature an H&R Block tax office and an H&R Block Financial Advisors office as well as retail space. The 17-story facility will connect via a two-story glass lobby to an auditorium that will be shared by Block and the Kansas City Repertory Theatre.

Banfield, The Pet Hospital , broke ground in October 2004 on its $25-million headquarters in Portland, Ore. The 225,000-sf facility will be a two-story structure constructed over a sub-grade parking garage. Sited on 5.5 acres, the project includes plans for a two-acre off-leash dog park open to the public. Banfield's headquarters, which will replace its current facility, will house 300 employees and is slated to open in December 2005. Banfield is the nation's largest private veterinary practice with over 400 full service pet hospitals.

The City of Wichita dedicated the $3-million, 24,000-sf Chris Cherches CityArts Building on October 2, 2004. The facility will accommodate arts, public events, and cultural activities.