Dr. Mark Fishman, president of the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research

Novartis announced Nov. 6 that it would invest $100 million in an R&D center in Shanghai that will employ 400 scientists. Expected to begin operations in May 2007, the center in Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park will focus on infectious causes of cancer endemic to China and Asia and will, like the vaccine industry, incorporate traditional Chinese medicine into its scope. The center will initially occupy a 53,821-sq.-ft. (5,000-sq.-m.) facility, with construction of a permanent 409,042-sq.-ft. (38,000-sq.-m.) facility to begin in July 2007. In February 2006, construction began on an $83-million development and production plant in Changshu, Jiangsu Province, which is expected to open in mid-2007. "Shanghai is clearly emerging as a new epicenter of science globally, and is a magnet for the best and the brightest investigators," said Dr. Mark Fishman, president of the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research. "It is a perfect location for exploring novel scientific approaches for the discovery of new medicines that will ultimately benefit patients in China and around the world."

On Nov. 9, advisory firm Stadtmauer, Bailkin Biggins officially changed its name to Biggins Lacy Shapiro & Company, LLC, doing business as BLS Location Economics. The change comes about as the firm recognizes the contributions of senior staff members Joe Lacy and Andy Shapiro: "In recognition of their creativity, effectiveness and integrity, I am pleased to announce that they are now principals in the firm," wrote Jay Biggins, executive managing director, in an open letter. The focus of the firm, a winner of a 2006 William Dorsey Service Provider of the Year award from IAMC official publication Site Selection, will continue to be as "a highly-specialized consultancy designed around the needs of corporate clients confronting complex location decisions and related challenges." Becky Zane, senior vice president of marketing, is an IAMC member. Jay Biggins now serves on the editorial advisory board for Site Selection.

When not developing new logistics parks, ProLogis is enjoying developing its trophy room: Within two days in early November, the Denver-based owner, manager and developer accepted the "Leader In The Light" award for leadership in environmentally advanced warehouse construction from the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT) and the European Industrial Developer of the Year award from Germany’s Immobilien Zeitung and Property Week in the United Kingdom, as part of the annual European Property Awards at the recent Expo Real real estate conference in Munich. ProLogis was also named Industrial Developer of the Year at the conference in 2005. "We’re very pleased to be named Europe’s top industrial developer for the second year in a row," said Steve Meyer, president and chief operating officer for ProLogis in Europe. "With more than 80 million square feet operational or under development in 30 markets across the continent, ProLogis operates today as the only true pan-European provider of industrial distribution facilities." "As an industry, we are still in the early stages of responding to the sustainability movement," said Jack Rizzo, ProLogis managing director for global development, of the NAREIT award. "Much more work will be required before we know how to best integrate environmental design into warehouse projects in ways that deliver the greatest benefits at the lowest cost. It’s clear, however, that sustainable development will continue to grow as a priority in commercial real estate."

Think you’re busy? Take a look at project announcements by IAMC member company Dell Inc. in the past few months, part of worldwide headcount growth over the past year of 22 percent, to more than 75,000 employees:

Dell headquarters in Round Rock, Texas

• A $256-million plant in Lodz, Poland, building on the success of the computer maker’s first European facility in Limerick, Ireland. When negotiations were first reported in the European press one year ago, the plant’s price tag was reported at $154 million. First-phase employment will be 1,000;
• The hiring of 500 engineers in its hometown labs in Austin;
• A two-phase, $60-million, 1,000-employee investment in a plant near Chennai, India. Dell signed an agreement with the Tamil Nadu government to build the plant on a 50-acre parcel in the Sriperumbudur Hi-Tech Special Economic Zone;
• Expansion of the company’s Indian call center in Gurgaon over the next 12 to 15 months from 800 employees to 2,500; The grand opening of the company’s new 155,000-sq.-ft. customer contact center in Edmonton Research Park in Alberta, where 1,000 employees — double the originally projected number — are already at work;
• Dell is also doubling up in Ottawa, Ont., adding to its 1,200-employee, sq.-ft. (14,500-sq.-m.) contact center there with a (13,500-sq.-m.) addition.

While the CBRE merger with Trammell Crow spawns a mountain of stories and speculation (look for coverage in the January issue of Site Selection), Boston-based firm CRESA Partners is writing its own story. In October, the firm announced that its CEO Kevin Hayes would step down, replaced by Bill Goade, and that Jerry Porter, vice chairman since 1998, would step up to the chairman’s role. Gary Gregg, president of the 44-office CRESA Partners network’s Phoenix affiliate, is an IAMC member.

As documented in the May 2006 issue of Site Selection, FedEx Ground's $34- million facility at IDI’s development in Pompano Beach is adding 150 jobs to the company's existing area payroll of 356.

IDI has begun construction on its final building at Pompano Business Center — the 123,062-sq.-ft. (11,433-sq.-m.) Pompano Building M. With the completion of the facility in April 2007, IDI will have developed 13 buildings totaling 1.8 million sq. ft. (167,220 sq. m.). With development nearly complete at that site, IDI is proceeding with plans for Rock Lake Business Center, a four-building, 450,000-sq.-ft. (41,805-sq.-m.) park on 34 acres (13.8 hectares) just north of Pompano Business Center. "Pompano Beach is a central distribution point between West Palm Beach and Miami, and it has traditionally been one of the best industrial markets in South Florida," said Scott Helms, vice president and regional development officer for IDI in Florida. "IDI’s ability to secure the 34 acres for development is crucial because there are virtually no sites remaining for development in Pompano Beach, and very few sites available in all of Broward County." IDI’s Florida office also is expanding into the Tampa industrial market, with developments planned at 301 Business Center and Madison IndustriallPark.

In October IAMC member firm The Alter Group announced that Conn.-based Mortgage Lenders Network USA, Inc., would be moving into two build-to-suit-to-lease buildings totaling 180,000 sq. ft. (16,722 sq. m.) in the developer’s 80-acre (32.4-hectare) Corridors — Phoenix business park in Phoenix, Ariz. Mitchell Heffernan, MLN’s CEO and president, said the company looked forward to fostering the growth of its relationships with the City of Phoenix, IAMC member organization the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, APS and the Arizona Department of Commerce. The loan originating and servicing firm is also leasing new space from The Alter Group in Alpharetta, Ga.

Schweizer Aircraft, a subsidiary of IAMC member firm United Technologies’ Sikorsky Aircraft, announced in early November it would establish a new aerospace component manufacturing facility in Somerset, Ky., through an agreement with Del.-based Summit Aviation. The $1.9-million, 100-job project follows in the wake of last year’s announcement by Belcan Engineering that it would open a new engineering design center in Lexington to fulfill a contract with Sikorsky. The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) preliminarily approved Summit Aviation for tax benefits up to $1.9 million under the Kentucky Industrial Development Act (KIDA).

IAMC member Jeb Atkinson, associate, industrial services, for ProVenture Commercial Real Estate

IAMC member ProVenture Commercial Real Estate has developed a 500,000-sq.-ft. (46,450-sq.-m.) multi-client distribution center for Ozburn-Hessey Logistics in Winchester, Va., bringing Nashville-based Ozburn-Hessey’s national network to 21.5 million sq. ft. (2 million sq. m.). ProVenture, which has maintained a strategic alliance with Ozburn-Hessey since 1998, worked with fellow IAMC member firm First Industrial Realty to design the facility, which will help the logistics firm service the large volume of goods coming into the country via the Port of Virginia.

IAMC member Tennessee Valley Authority in September announced that four communities had been selected to participate in the first round of its new The Valley Targeted and Prepared Community Program. Independent firm Boyette Levy selected the following four communities from the 47 that applied: Clarksville/Montgomery County

John Bradley, TVA senior vice president of economic development

EDC and Weakley Co. EDB in Tennessee, IAMC member Cullman EDA in Alabama and IAMC member Greater Starkville Development Partnership in Mississippi. "The response to this applications process shows that we have addressed a critical need in helping comunities be more prepared for achieving economic success," said IAMC member John Bradley, TVA senior vice president of economic development. Another round of applications will be accepted in late spring or early summer 2007. The program launch occurred at nearly the same time as groundbreaking on a TVA-community project by IAMC member firm General Electric: a $33-million Eastern Lighting Distribution Center at Hiwassee River Industrial Park in Bradley County, Tenn. According to TVA, Tim Trozzo, manager of consumer and industrial distribution for GE, said Bradley County was the right location for serving the eastern half of the country, and the decision was influenced by the cooperation between local, county, and state governments.

IAMC member firm Lockheed Martin, helped by a grant of $7.5 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund, will create close to 1,000 new jobs in the Houston area, in part as a result of the firm’s new contract with NASA to build the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle.

IAMC member firm Schneider Electric has acquired American Power Conversion in a transaction that Vishal Sapru, program manager for the Energy & Power Systems practice at Frost & Sullivan, calls "a marriage between two giants currently positioned to dominate the world market." "In short term, the competitive scenario will not change," advises Sapru, as it will take some time for Schneider and APC to integrate work cultures, product lines, customer bases, distribution channels, manufacturing facilities and sales and marketing forces. (Look for a "Meet a Member" profile of IAMC member Karen McClellan, corporate real estate manager for Schneider Electric North America, in the November 2006 issue of Site Selection.)