Duke Realty's 'Horizontal Skyscraper'

Just how long is The Container Store's new facility in Coppell, Texas? According to Jeff Turner, senior vice president, Dallas operations of Duke Realty Corporation, "We had a golf ball driving contest to see if anyone could hit a ball on concrete in a warehouse that is 650 yards long. What happened? The longest ball traveled just short of 500 yards. Perhaps only Tiger Woods could hit the end wall!"
        The Container Store, the nation's leading retailer of storage and organizational products, experienced rapid growth and was looking to consolidate its operations into one facility. The facility needed to be designed to operate as a corporate headquarters and national distribution center. The Container Store also wanted to provide its employees with a comfortable environment where they would feel proud to work.
        "This was a very careful, well-thought-out real estate decision," remarks Turner. "It is a classic build-to-suit story because The Container Store wanted to keep their office space attached to their main distribution hub. Any space within an existing building would have been too hodge-podge and not as streamlined as the space that will open in March 2004. Construction took just about one year."
        Duke Realty built a 1.1-million-sq.-ft. (102,190-sq.-m.) facility in its Freeport North Business Park, with The Container Store occupying 654,500 sq. ft. (60,803 sq. m.), leaving 447,000 sq. ft. (41,526 sq. m.) for future expansion. Duke built a larger facility than the initial requirement – fondly called the "horizontal skyscraper" – and structured the transaction whereby The Container Store could expand over time into the entire building. As a long-term owner that signed a 12.5-year agreement, The Container Store had confidence that Duke will maintain the Class A image of the park.
        Duke Realty Corporation is the largest publicly traded office and industrial real estate company in the United States. Offering a complete range of real estate products and services, Duke produces approximately $800 million in annual revenue from more than 4,200 tenants and focuses on building dominant market positions in each of its 13 geographic platforms across the Midwest and the Sunbelt.

| Top of Page | Cover | Letter to Editor | Site Selection Online | SiteNet |