Location and a good supply of large buildings have made the Memphis Depot Business Park ideally suited for distribution operations.

and the blues, to be sure. But the city is also known for its distribution prowess and it still reigns as a nexus for cotton trade. Memphis-based merchants typically sell about 30 percent of the U.S. annual cotton production, according to the National Cotton Council. A former military installation in the city has been quietly taking advantage of these two major strengths of the region for the past few years.
      The Memphis Depot Business Park has taken shape in the years following the 1997 closure of the U.S. Army's Memphis General Depot, a facility activated in January 1942. The Depot's first mission was to supply the U.S. Army with food, clothing and equipment. It continued to supply logistical support to troops through Desert Storm in the early 1990s. Now, refitted as a business park, the 642-acre (260-hectare) complex houses operations by two of the three largest U.S. cotton merchants and assorted light manufacturers.
      "It's a really unique situation and it's great space," says William Zarfoss, administrative vice president for Allenberg Cotton, a division of Louis Dreyfus Co. Allenberg merchandises U.S. cotton worldwide, buying the natural fiber from producers and ginners. Allenberg then stores, grades and ships it to U.S. textile mills based on their needs. Allenberg owns or leases 5 million sq. ft. (464,500 sq. m.) of warehouse space across the U.S., and occupies 420,000 sq. ft. (39,000 sq. m.) at the Depot.
      "They're old, but extremely well built," Zarfoss says of the former Army buildings. "Our requirements aren't fancy. We needed great, big empty boxes and that's what they have, usually about 50,000 square feet [4,645 sq. m.]."
      Zarfoss says Allenberg chose the site because it was looking to expand its storage capacity and the facility has good rail service. Allenberg's operation serves as a consolidation point as cotton is trucked in from all over the Mississippi River Delta.
      Also distributing cotton from the Depot is Cargill Cotton, a division of Cargill, Inc. Cargill is the Depot's largest tenant, leasing seven buildings with a total of 769,000 sq. ft. (71,400 sq. m.).
      "We found out our buildings are set up nicely for cotton," says Jim Covington, president of the Depot Redevelopment Corp. (DRC). "The sizes are right and each bay has about 20,000 square feet [1,860 sq. m.]. Fire codes and other regulations limit the amount of cotton that can be stored in one building. Our buildings gave us an opportunity to recruit cotton companies."
      Covington says that during the fall, there is a non-stop progression of trucks hauling in raw cotton and its odor permeates the business park.
      NAID, an Association of Defense Communities (previously known as the National Association of Installation Developers) honored the Memphis Depot Business Park last summer with its 2004 Facility of the Year Award. In presenting the award, Irene Kornelly, chairman of the NAID/ADC Awards Committee stated, "The DRC's success in transforming this former Army installation into a vibrant commerce center is a leading model for the reuse of a large inner city site."
      The DRC invested more than $18 million in the Depot's redevelopment, including $6.2 million from the U.S. Economic Development Administration and $10 million in borrowed funds from city and county governments. The business park has leased about 60 percent of its 4 million sq. ft. (371,600 sq. m.) of space and the 29 companies located there employ about 1,200. About 60

Empire Aero provides maintenance and repair services to aircraft in its facility at Griffiss Technology Park in Rome, N.Y.

percent is warehouse and distribution and the remainder is mostly light manufacturing operations.
      The business park is definitely in a prime location for distribution. The Memphis International Airport, the FedEx world hub and a UPS regional hub are all within two miles. Also nearby are Interstates 240 and 55.
      Over the last seven years, the DRC has modernized utilities, roadways, parking, lighting and landscaping to bring the park up to modern standards, Covington says. This included removal of 26 miles (42 km.) of surplus railway within the complex.
      "We had to improve internal roadways, which were built to 1942 standards," Covington says. "We had to convert to a trucking facility to provide room to park and maneuver 53-foot [16-m.] trucks."
      While redevelopment to date has involved existing structures, Covington says the DRC is in the process of subdividing 100 acres (40 hectares) for new construction.
      NAID/ADC gave its Developer of the Year Award to Griffiss Local Development Corporation (GLDC) in Rome, N.Y., for its efforts in transforming the former Griffiss Air Force Base into the Griffiss Business & Technology Park, a focal point of economic activity in the Rome area.
      Since the base was closed in 1995, more than $165 million has been invested in infrastructure improvements. The facility is now a blend of aviation and information technology-related firms, according to Steven J. DiMeo, president of Mohawk Valley EDGE, which provides staff to the GLDC.
      The largest recent addition to the park is Empire Aero Center, where Israel Aircraft Industries recently opened its North American aviation maintenance headquarters, relocated from Miami International Airport. Empire occupies nearly 400,000 sq. ft. (37,160 sq. m.) in an expanded and refurbished hangar facility that previously serviced B-52 bombers. Empire provides heavy maintenance, structural repairs and refurbishment to a variety of aircraft. The operation employs about 200 with plans to ramp up to 500 by 2007.
      Another addition to the park is the Air Force Research Laboratory, which cut the ribbon in April 2004 on the new $25-million headquarters for its Information Directorate.

BRAC 2005
Brings New Opportunities
      There will soon be even more military property available for redevelopment. Base Realignment & Closure (BRAC) in the 1980s and 1990s closed 97 U.S. installations. Many other military facilities have been shuttered through the years outside the BRAC process.
      The U.S. Dept. of Defense is currently gathering information on the nation's military installations in preparation for the largest BRAC round yet, which will dispose of 21 percent to 25 percent of the military's infrastructure.
      The DOD says decisions to keep bases open will be based on military value and other factors, including the ability to support joint operations of several branches of the armed services.
      Harry Kelso, a Virginia-based consultant specializing in redevelopment of military property, says most states have made little effort towards thinking of ways to reuse the properties that may be closed. Instead, most have tried to make the case for keeping bases open.
      "State and local governments are spending an extraordinary amount of time and funds in an attempt to BRAC-proof facilities and candidly, that's impossible to do," Kelso says. He cites Virginia Gov. Mark Warner as one of the few public officials who have talked about a "Plan B" for when and if bases close.
      "States need to be taking the proactive posture of addressing what would happen to the economy and local communities in the event bases close," Kelso says. "Corporations and site selection officials should be gaining the expertise today to prepare themselves for the opportunities presented by base closures." Kelso adds that these opportunities are already available at the dozens of U.S. bases currently being redeveloped.