Package delivery company DHL opened a $3-million sorting facility in Erie, Pa., on Sept 29, 2004. The 55,000-sf center is part of DHL's $1.2-billion initiative to expand ground delivery capacity by sixty percent with the creation of seven additional sorting centers. The Erie facility begins operations on October 8, 2004 with the sorting capacity of 7,000 parcels and 4,000 letters per hour.
Bank of America Corp. broke ground in August 2004 on One Bryant Park in Manhattan, a 52-story skyscraper designed to meet the platinum LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) designation. Designed by Cook & Fox Architects of New York, the facility features a gray-water capture and reuse system for rainwater and wastewater; an onsite 5.1-megawatt co-generation power plant that provides seventy percent of the building's daily power suppy; and recyclable and renewable building materials.
Cincinnati Financial Corp . is planning a $98-million expansion of its Fairfield, Ohio, headquarters. The first phase of construction will commence in January 2005 with the construction of a 700-car underground parking garage. The second phase, comprised of a 487,000-sf, seven-story office tower to be built on top of the garage, will begin in September 2006 with completion expected in September 2008. Cincinnati Financial Corp. currently accommodates 2,800 employees at the 800,000-sf Fairfield site.
FedEx Freight broke ground in late August 2004 on its new $5 million operations hub in Greensboro, N.C. The 65,000-sf facility is sited on 30 acres and will feature 106 dock doors for loading and unloading cargo, with the potential to expand the building by another 40 doors in the future; 56,000 sf of storage pods will also be constructed. Completion is expected in eight to nine months.
Centene Corp., a provider of managed care programs services, is planning to open a 50,000-sf processing facility on 25 acres in Great Falls , Mont. The first stage of the project describes the completion of an 8,000-sf temporary facility in November 2004 with the permanent structure scheduled to open in July 2005. The initial cost of the project is estimated at $7 million.
Law firm Preston Gates & Ellis has completed its 220,000-sf headquarters in Seattle , Wash. Designed by STUDIOS Architecture, the facility features specific design elements to increase productivity:
Fairfield, Conn.-based General Electric Co. is planning a 75,000-sf expansion of its research center in Niskayuna , N.Y. The $25 million project will create new offices and labs at the chemical engineering building at the site. Construction will begin in late 2004 and reach completion in 2005. Plans describe the construction of an additional 10,000-sf facility for manufacturing and research. GE is engaged in the $100 million renovation of its 1.4 million-sf GE Global Research Center at the site.
Williams Communications (WilTel) has completed its 750,000-sf technology center in Tulsa , Okla. The 15-story vertical campus features 52,000-sf floor plates, allowing office floors to function as self-contained mini-campuses. Designed by HOK, the energy-efficient facility uses natural light, 16-foot-high ceilings, and a vertical “solar well” circulation core that acts as a return air plenum, natural ventilation shaft, and thermal buffer. At the center of the building is a secure three-story, 47,000-sf Network Operations Center and the Executive Center .
Lucasfilm is developing the $300-million Letterman Digital Arts Center at the Presidio in San Francisco . Housing Industrial Light & Magic, LucasArts, and Lucas Online , the 23-acre site will accommodate 865,000 sf of office space in four buildings upon completion, including the renovated Letterman hospital.
Insurance firm Geico will construct a 250,000-sf operations center in Uniland Development’s CrossPoint Business Park in the Amherst area of Buffalo, N.Y. Construction is slated to begin in late 2004 or early 2005.
Connetics Corp., a maker of acne and dermatological disease products, is relocating within the city of Palo Alto, Calif. from 53,000 sf at its current West Bayshore Road location to 96,000 sf in the Stanford Research Park. Connetics may also lease an additional 20,000 sf in an adjacent building at the site, which is the former headquarters of Incyte Corp. The move and subsequent renovations at the new location will double Connetics’ office and laboratory space.
In June 2004, San Francisco-based Wells Fargo will begin relocating 2000 members of the company’s Services team to a new 400,000-sf facility sited on 6.25 acres in Ocotillo Corporate Center in Chandler, Ariz. The $75-million, two-building facility is the first phase of a potentially one million-sf development that could house 7,000 Wells Fargo employees.
Epixtar Corp., a Miami-based call center holding company, will lease 28,000 sf of office space for a 400-seat, three-story call center to be constructed in the Philippines. The center will be located in Dumaguete, the capital of Negros Oriental, a province in the Visayan Island region of the Philippines.
Ground will be broken on the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center site in New York on July 4, 2004. Slated for completion in 2009, the tower could be the world’s tallest building. It will include a spire meant to evoke images of the Statue of Liberty. It will be located on the northwest part of the trade center site, not on the footprint of the former twin towers.
The Technology Park of Greater Louisville will continue its revitalization with the addition of retail businesses and warehouse space. The 142-acre former Naval Ordnance Station site, managed by Titan Research & Development, is becoming a multi-use commercial and industrial park. Titan plans to spend between $75 and $100 million over the next ten years on the site. Expansion plans include the construction of a new 60,000-sf building in spring 2005 which will deliver in one year.
