Corporate

The program for Ford Motor Company's Premier Automotive Group Headquarters Facility consists of a five-story 250,000-sf office tower, 30,000-sf design center, and a four-story parking structure. The facility consolidates the North American Headquarters for Ford's five luxury automotive brands, while maintaining individual brand identity. The project, built as a "green" facility, incorporates sustainable features. The LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) 2.0 guideline was used with the following results:

Burger King, based in Miami, is in the process of occupying its newly completed 8-story, 160,000-sf Waterford headquarters, a replacement of the company's southern Miami-Dade County headquarters. The burger giant has also acquired 40,000 sf of office space on four floors in Dadeland Towers, currently under construction, with a multiyear lease. All employees will be relocated to the Waterford office complex, located near Miami International Airport, or the Dadeland facility by Sept. 21.

The Minute Maid Co., an operating division of The Coca-Cola Co. of Atlanta, is planning to build a noncarbonated beverage production plant in Auburndale.  The 620,000-sf facility will cost $130-million for construction and equipment. In two weeks, site preparation will begin, with groundbreaking following in another two weeks. The plant, which will employ approximately 300 workers, is slated to be operational in March 2003.

Pixar, a computer animation company, plans to develop the second phase of its corporate campus on 14 company-owned acres in Emeryville. Within the next 60 to 90 days, a preliminary plan for the expansion will be submitted to the City Planning Department, with possible approval by year-end. The original 1996 plans for the site included 415,000 sf, half of which has been developed. No additional environmental review for the project will be required if the new plans retain a similar project scope and location.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has selected The Orr Co. of Falls Church as development manager for its expansion in the Virginia Square neighborhood of Arlington. The expansion includes a 372,000-sf, two-tower office building and housing accommodations for 1,100 employees and contractors. 

DreamWorks has relocated its animation offices into 120,000 sf at Pacific Shores Center in Redwood City, Calif. The computer animation division, which is based in Palo Alto and employs 300 workers in three sites, will also be consolidated into the Redwood City facilities.

Southwest Business Corp. plans to consolidate its services at a new 100,000-sf headquarters on a 3.7-acre site in North Central San Antonio. Groundbreaking for the $12 to $14-million building plus 4.5-story parking structure is planned for 2003, with occupancy anticipated in 2005. The company provides insurance and financial services.

Franklin Square North is being developed in Washington by Monument Realty. The freestanding 269,000-sf building will cost $70- to $75-million to build and will be marketed to both government and private sectors. Housing 16,000-sf of retail space, the 12-story facility is one of five buildings under construction in the District of Columbia slated for delivery in 2003. Designed by project architect Davis Carter Scott, the building will be constructed by general contractor James G. Davis Construction.

The Law School Admissions Council (LSAT) will break ground on its new 85,000-sf headquarters in late summer of 2002. Located on seven company-owned acres in Newton, Penn., adjacent to its current 48,000-sf operations, the facility will feature 54 underground parking spaces. The majority of a proposed $20-million bond will fund the headquarters, which will be designed by Edison, N.J.-based architectural firm Rothe Johnson Fantacone. Construction will be completed within a year.

LexisNexis Group, the legal and information division of Reed Elsevier PLC, has completed renovation of its 38,000-sf Boston headquarters. Construction management and general contracting for the renovation was provided by Spaulding & Slye Construction, a division of Boston-based real estate firm Spaulding & Slye Colliers. Architectural firm Gensler of San Francisco designed the project. 

Public-broadcasting station WGBH-TV is expected to close in early May on Brighton Landing’s 181,000-sf west building. Acquisition of the seven-story facility will allow the 50-year-old station to expand its radio, television, interactive and educational activities. WGBH will occupy the second floor and floors four through seven. As the facility is still in shell condition, phased move-in will take two to five years. An additional four- or five-story facility will be constructed across the street. A third-floor walkway may connect the buildings.

Perrier Group of America will consolidate its San Francisco operations with the development of a new 10,000-sf office building and a 16,000-sf distribution center. Formerly home to an industrial gas supplier, the three-acre site will also provide warehousing and parking for Perrier’s truck fleet.

Gannett’s new 880,000-sf McLean headquarters was completed in October of 2001. Located on 25 acres, the $300-million project, including $160-million in construction costs, features an additional 750,000-sf mostly underground parking garage. Architects Kohn Pederson Fox designed the base building, with Lehman-Smith + McLeish designing the interiors. Developed by Hines of Houston, the building is comprised of two connecting towers and houses a 20,000-sf fitness center, a mile-long jogging trail, a 400-seat employee café, and 2 acres of landscaped rooftop terraces.

Premium Distributors, a D.C. beer distributor, has built a new 154,000-sf headquarters in Washington. The one-story office building contains a partially submerged section where approximately one million cases of beer are refrigerated.  The $11-million building is the first development in the Fort Lincoln New Town section and features an indoor loading bay for delivery trucks. Architect Herring & Trowbridge designed the facility, which consolidates three former locations.

The Georgia Aquarium has selected Heery International Inc. of Atlanta as construction manager for building the world's largest aquarium. Heery's role will be the oversight and management of all project stages. Slated to open in 2005, the $200-million, 250,000-sf aquarium will feature a 5 million-gallon exotic aquatic animal tank. Brasfield & Gorrie LLC of Kennesaw will manage day-to-day construction operations.