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Answering the
High-Tech Bell
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A Kingdom of Industry
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Florida's Major Projects
Infrastructure: Florida's Mobile Supply Chain
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FLORIDA SPOTLIGHT
Banking on
Sustainable Growth
Sustainable Growth
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orporate real estate executives who are scouring Florida for expansion opportunities could learn a lot from James Cassady, president of Bank of America for Broward County in Fort Lauderdale.
Commenting on the bank's new 75,000-sq.-ft. (6,975-sq.-m.) headquarters at 401 East Las Olas, Cassady said: "The move is key to our strategic direction, which focuses on the customer experience -- from improving products to delivering better service and enhanced amenities."
Getting products and services closer to the customer -- through better supply-chain management and improved infrastructure -- has become the rallying cry for corporate executives throughout the Sunshine State.
From banking to biomedical and from automotive to advanced manufacturing, Florida is attracting a new wave of corporate facilities built on the concepts of speed to market, technological expediency and infrastructure improvement.
The new Broward headquarters for Bank of America is a classic example. Developed by the Stiles Corp. of Fort Lauderdale and designed by Cooper Carry Architects of Atlanta, the 411,000-sq.-ft. (38,223-sq.-m.) Las Olas City Centre fulfills downtown Fort Lauderdale's need for a mixed-use business complex that caters to the area's urban work force.
While not technically classified as a build-to-suit project, every square inch of Bank of America's space was meticulously planned before the bank signed the 10-year lease on the bottom line.
Bank of America will occupy the building's entire eighth and 21st floors, plus a portion of the ninth floor, in addition to an 8,400-sq.-ft. (781-sq.-m.), full-service, ground-floor banking center. About 250 employees will move into the facility this fall.
Nothing about this deal was left to chance, said Cassady. "Obviously, costs were a major issue," he said. "We had a lease expiring on our old facility at One Financial Plaza, where we have been for the past 30 years. We began pursuing our options for a new home about three and a half years ago. The cost of the new facility became a major part of our final site selection."
While Cassady would not divulge the price of the lease, Stiles Realty Co. President Tom Kates told Site Selection that the going rate for space in the Las Olas City Centre starts at $18.75 per sq. ft. ($1.74 per sq. m.).
Still, Kates maintains, Bank of America is getting a lot of building for its money. The 23-story, class A office building not only resides at downtown Fort Lauderdale's premier address; it also offers 24,000-sq.-ft. (2,232-sq.-m.) floorplates, 45,800 sq. ft. (4,259 sq. m.) of retail space, large community and conference rooms, a five-story parking garage, and fiber-optic capabilities with broadband service and high-speed Internet access throughout the facility.
"The bottom line is that Bank of America wanted a building that conveyed the image that they wanted to have in the markets in which they do business," said Kates, "and it gave them that image at the premier address in the marketplace."
While the bank had options to move elsewhere, Cassady said that his company ultimately chose the Las Olas address because it provided the best deal at the best location for the firm's business.
Corporate managers throughout Florida are following suit. Faced with the decision to relocate, consolidate or expand, an increasing number of Florida companies are making the decision to grow right where they are.
Consider the case of the worldwide headquarters of Burger King in Miami. Just last year, the world's No. 2 fast-food restaurant chain forsook offers from suitors in other counties and states to remain in Miami-Dade County, where it was founded in 1954.
On Sept. 21, Burger King executives will celebrate the grand opening of the company's new global headquarters at 5505 Blue Lagoon Drive in West Dade. The $52-million, 230,000-sq.-ft. (21,390-sq.-m.) facility will accommodate 700 Burger King employees.
Burger King initially began a site search years ago that included Georgia, Arizona and the Florida counties of Broward and Duval. Eventually, the company narrowed the field to six sites in Broward and Miami-Dade.
"We looked at this corporate relocation from a very high level," said Lisa Vivero, vice president of purchasing and business services for Burger King. "We considered the feasibility of moving out of the state or out of the county. But with our employee population concentrated in Miami-Dade County, we decided that the best thing to do was to select a more central location in our home county. And this facility at Blue Lagoon gave us the opportunity to be located right in the heart of the county near the airport."
Playing a pivotal role in the deal was the Beacon Council, the economic development organization of Miami-Dade. The council structured an Enterprise Zone program that enabled Burger King to secure property tax abatements for up to five years, saving the Fortune 500 company about $1.6 million in taxes.
Other incentives included a $250,000 Enterprise Zone property tax credit from the state of Florida, as well as $30,000 in other job and sales tax credits.
Before the company was sold in late July for $2.26 billion by British holding company Diageo to a consortium led by Texas Pacific Group, Holly Wiedman, executive vice president of the Beacon Council, said, "An incredible fact of this deal is that, even though this company is for sale, they are choosing to build here anyway and remain in Miami-Dade County. They are making a major investment and commitment to Miami."
Vivero added that the move made sense for other reasons. With more than 90 Burger King restaurants scattered throughout Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties, the company was able to locate a headquarters facility close to its front lines. "Plus, we've always focused on Latin America as being one of our key markets, and Miami is the gateway to Latin America," she said.
Commenting on the bank's new 75,000-sq.-ft. (6,975-sq.-m.) headquarters at 401 East Las Olas, Cassady said: "The move is key to our strategic direction, which focuses on the customer experience -- from improving products to delivering better service and enhanced amenities."
Getting products and services closer to the customer -- through better supply-chain management and improved infrastructure -- has become the rallying cry for corporate executives throughout the Sunshine State.
From banking to biomedical and from automotive to advanced manufacturing, Florida is attracting a new wave of corporate facilities built on the concepts of speed to market, technological expediency and infrastructure improvement.
The new Broward headquarters for Bank of America is a classic example. Developed by the Stiles Corp. of Fort Lauderdale and designed by Cooper Carry Architects of Atlanta, the 411,000-sq.-ft. (38,223-sq.-m.) Las Olas City Centre fulfills downtown Fort Lauderdale's need for a mixed-use business complex that caters to the area's urban work force.
While not technically classified as a build-to-suit project, every square inch of Bank of America's space was meticulously planned before the bank signed the 10-year lease on the bottom line.
Bank of America will occupy the building's entire eighth and 21st floors, plus a portion of the ninth floor, in addition to an 8,400-sq.-ft. (781-sq.-m.), full-service, ground-floor banking center. About 250 employees will move into the facility this fall.
Nothing about this deal was left to chance, said Cassady. "Obviously, costs were a major issue," he said. "We had a lease expiring on our old facility at One Financial Plaza, where we have been for the past 30 years. We began pursuing our options for a new home about three and a half years ago. The cost of the new facility became a major part of our final site selection."
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While Cassady would not divulge the price of the lease, Stiles Realty Co. President Tom Kates told Site Selection that the going rate for space in the Las Olas City Centre starts at $18.75 per sq. ft. ($1.74 per sq. m.).
Still, Kates maintains, Bank of America is getting a lot of building for its money. The 23-story, class A office building not only resides at downtown Fort Lauderdale's premier address; it also offers 24,000-sq.-ft. (2,232-sq.-m.) floorplates, 45,800 sq. ft. (4,259 sq. m.) of retail space, large community and conference rooms, a five-story parking garage, and fiber-optic capabilities with broadband service and high-speed Internet access throughout the facility.
"The bottom line is that Bank of America wanted a building that conveyed the image that they wanted to have in the markets in which they do business," said Kates, "and it gave them that image at the premier address in the marketplace."
While the bank had options to move elsewhere, Cassady said that his company ultimately chose the Las Olas address because it provided the best deal at the best location for the firm's business.
Corporate managers throughout Florida are following suit. Faced with the decision to relocate, consolidate or expand, an increasing number of Florida companies are making the decision to grow right where they are.
Consider the case of the worldwide headquarters of Burger King in Miami. Just last year, the world's No. 2 fast-food restaurant chain forsook offers from suitors in other counties and states to remain in Miami-Dade County, where it was founded in 1954.
|
On Sept. 21, Burger King executives will celebrate the grand opening of the company's new global headquarters at 5505 Blue Lagoon Drive in West Dade. The $52-million, 230,000-sq.-ft. (21,390-sq.-m.) facility will accommodate 700 Burger King employees.
Burger King initially began a site search years ago that included Georgia, Arizona and the Florida counties of Broward and Duval. Eventually, the company narrowed the field to six sites in Broward and Miami-Dade.
"We looked at this corporate relocation from a very high level," said Lisa Vivero, vice president of purchasing and business services for Burger King. "We considered the feasibility of moving out of the state or out of the county. But with our employee population concentrated in Miami-Dade County, we decided that the best thing to do was to select a more central location in our home county. And this facility at Blue Lagoon gave us the opportunity to be located right in the heart of the county near the airport."
Playing a pivotal role in the deal was the Beacon Council, the economic development organization of Miami-Dade. The council structured an Enterprise Zone program that enabled Burger King to secure property tax abatements for up to five years, saving the Fortune 500 company about $1.6 million in taxes.
Other incentives included a $250,000 Enterprise Zone property tax credit from the state of Florida, as well as $30,000 in other job and sales tax credits.
Before the company was sold in late July for $2.26 billion by British holding company Diageo to a consortium led by Texas Pacific Group, Holly Wiedman, executive vice president of the Beacon Council, said, "An incredible fact of this deal is that, even though this company is for sale, they are choosing to build here anyway and remain in Miami-Dade County. They are making a major investment and commitment to Miami."
Vivero added that the move made sense for other reasons. With more than 90 Burger King restaurants scattered throughout Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties, the company was able to locate a headquarters facility close to its front lines. "Plus, we've always focused on Latin America as being one of our key markets, and Miami is the gateway to Latin America," she said.
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