Industrial Asset Management Council (IAMC)

A $72- million world headquarters expansion may open up the view to new opportunities for both Campbell Soup Co. and the City of Camden, N.J. "It creates a model for other corporations to pursue a similar type of corporate commitment," Bob Zane (inset), Campbell's vice president of real estate operations, told Site Selection last year.

Images courtesy of Campbell Soup Co.

Campbell Soup Company, which has been wrestling with whether to relocate its headquarters from its home of 140 years in Camden, NJ, has struck a deal on a revised plan with the state and city to stay put. In a press release announcing the decision, Campbell CEO Douglas Conant says, "We have considered many options, but have decided that our goal is to remain in Camden. We are prepared to begin constructing our new building as soon as possible, and look forward to helping revitalize the area by developing an office park in the city. Working with our partners in the city, county and state, we have created a new plan that meets our needs and delivers many benefits of the original proposal." The originally announced project was documented in the March 2007 issue of Site Selection. According to an article in Forbes, early opposition to Campbell's plans was sidestepped when the company agreed not to demolish a building that formerly housed a Sears retail store. The company and municipal negotiations were lengthy and complicated. On the decision, Campbell Vice President, Real Estate Operations Robert Zane, said, "While we believe the original proposal represents the best development opportunity for the Gateway District, we are prepared to move forward with a revised plan. We have acquired a sufficient amount of real estate in the area to proceed with plans to develop an office park." Zane is an IAMC Active member and former chair of its board of directors.

In late February, the Tacoma News Tribune in Washington ran a full-page interview with IAMC member Wilma Warshak, senior vice president, Colliers International, who just finished leading a site study assignment for the Ports of Tacoma and Olympia as they evaluate potential sites for the South Sound Logistics Center, a proposed rail yard and industrial park. Among other insights, Warshak told the paper, "... We are starting to see rail become more of a bigger thing in our marketplace. And there's not a lot of rail sites anymore. But with fuel costs and congestion on the roads, it's becoming a better alternative."

For 15 years Ms. Warshak has been Colliers' top producing industrial broker in the Northwest. She has been honored frequently by the real estate community, and has been nominated and elected twice as Industrial Broker of the Year by the Washington State Chapter of SIOR. She has also been the recipient of the Colliers International Award of Excellence for the last 12 years, representing the top 5 percent of Colliers worldwide.

IAMC comes to Phoenix amid a wealth of industrial, spec and investment activity. Among the most recent deals, Grubb & Ellis Co. announced in late February that its Phoenix affiliate, Grubb & Ellis|BRE Commercial, LLC, completed the sale of the DMC portfolio of five flex industrial properties in Tempe and Chandler. Biltmore Holdings, LLC purchased the five properties totaling 515,722 square feet for approximately $55.5 million from DMC Investment Group. Grubb & Ellis is represented in IAMC by Michael J. Finley, based in Newport Beach, Calif.

Member firm Corrections Corp. of America, the nation's largest provider of corrections management services, announced on February 22 a $143-million, 350-job investment in a new company-owned correctional facility in Trousdale County, Tenn.

"We are proud to announce our latest investment in our home state of Tennessee," said John Ferguson, CCA President and CEO. "Here, for more than 20 years, CCA has successfully provided quality corrections solutions to various government customers, including partnerships with the Tennessee Department of Corrections and county agencies. With this new endeavor, CCA brings enhanced economic vitality to northern Middle Tennessee through purposeful careers and millions of dollars in salaries, benefits and tax revenue. This infusion of capital improves the lives of families and bolsters public services."

"I am thankful to CCA for their continued investment in the people of Tennessee," said Matt Kisber, commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development. "Governor Bredesen and I are committed to bringing quality jobs to Tennesseans, and this opportunity will bring about prosperity for those in Trousdale County. I applaud the full team at the state and local levels for making this happen."

Frank Betancourt, vice president of real estate for CCA, is an IAMC Active member.

As a recent report from Pew Center for the States pointed out, corrections and public safety are big business in many states, led by Texas. One of the most recent non-corporate projects to be announced in the Lone Star State in this field is the planned establishment of a new regional headquarters and DNA lab for the Texas Dept. of Public Safety (DPS) at the Lubbock Business Park. According to the Real Estate Center of the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University, the land was purchased from Lubbock Economic Development Corp. by Market Lubbock, which will deed the land to DPS. Expected to break ground in early 2009, the facility could create up to 50 new jobs. It will join at the business park a new distribution center from O'Reilly Automotive, and a forthcoming new plant from Standard Bag Manufacturing.

Marc Farmer, director of business recruitment for the Lubbock Economic Development Alliance, is an IAMC associate member. (See this issue's Sponsor Spotlight").

Member firm IDI, an industrial real estate developer, has selected Brian Mee to head its National Fee Development (NFD) group. Mee, a real estate veteran with 12 years of project development experience at IDI, was promoted to the position of senior vice president of National Fee Development. Previously vice president of corporate development, Mee succeeds former senior vice president Mike McLoad, who retired in 2007.

Mee will direct the NFD group's development, construction and marketing activities across North America. NFD develops customized facilities in single-site and multi-facility rollouts for a growing roster of clients through its build-to-suit program. Through this program, NFD manages the entire development process for clients, including site selection, entitlement, permitting, design and construction management. Since 1989, IDI's NFD group has developed 18.8 million square feet for companies such as Circuit City, The Home Depot, CarMax and AmerisourceBergen.

Separately, on March 3, the company announced the launch of Jefferson Distribution Center, a master-planned business park in Jackson County, Ga., about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta. IDI will develop up to five buildings totaling 2.8 million square feet at the park, located on 225 acres at the intersection of Interstate 85 and Georgia Highway 82. Two weeks earlier, the company announced the purchase of 257 acres near I-75 in Monroe County, Ga., where it plans to develop four DCs totaling up to 3 million sq. ft.

Atlanta-based IDI is represented in IAMC by Michael Parks, vice president of national business development.

Member firm United States Steel Corp. (USS) announced February 1 that it is planning to invest more than $300 million in its Minnesota Ore Operations' Keetac facility in Keewatin, Minn. The project will create 75 full-time jobs when complete, which will take 36 months after permitting approval. The program will also modernize an iron pellet production line that has been idle since 1980.

Stephen W. Bilan, Dennis Jones and George A. Manos represent USS in IAMC.

In late 2007, IAMC member firm 3M agreed to an MOU with the Gyeonggi Investment Promotion Committee in the Republic of Korea for an $83-million investment. According to the regional economic development organization , 3M plans to build industrial safety product manufacturing facilities, which will produce items such as LCD films and dust protection masks, within the Jangan Foreign Business Complex in Hwaseong City of Gyeonggi Province. 3M completed a $60-million display film production facility in Complex 1 of the Jangan Area in August 2006, and a $140-million industrial safety product manufacturing plant in July 2007. The new MOU is slated to add up to 300 more jobs to the 500 already created by the first two projects.

Officials from Gyeonggi Province in Korea sign an MOU with 3M officials at the company's headquarters in St. Paul, Minn.

In late February, member firm Novartis announced it would establish the Novartis Vaccines Institute for Global Health in Siena, Italy, calling it "the first institute with nonprofit mission established by a major vaccine manufacturer to exclusively focus on vaccines for diseases of the developing world."

"Research activities at NVGH, which will be part of the Novartis overarching Corporate Research program, will leverage the existing Novartis Vaccines research expertise and innovative technology platforms that add significant value and speed to bringing these vaccines forward," read a company release. "The institute's strategic location in Siena also enables researchers to utilize the scientific know-how and experience of the existing Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics global research center there, led by Rino Rappuoli, Global Head of Vaccines Research. NVGH projects will be managed separately from the commercial vaccine research projects, with a dedicated team of management, scientists and resources."

Novartis is represented in IAMC by Ron Grossmann, senior real estate specialist.

Panda's facility portfolio in Texas already includes this ethanol plant in Hereford, to be fueled by gasifying up to 1 billion pounds of cattle manure annually.