IAMC INSIDER -- Site Selection magazine, September 2008

What does your company manufacture?

BD is a leading global medical technology company that develops, manufactures and sells medical devices, instrument systems and reagents. The company is dedicated to improving people's health throughout the world. BD is focused on improving drug delivery, enhancing the quality and speed of diagnosing infectious diseases and cancers, and advancing research, discovery and production of new drugs and vaccines. BD's capabilities are instrumental in combating many of the world's most pressing diseases. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Franklin Lakes, N.J., BD employs approximately 28,000 people in approximately 50 countries throughout the world. The Company serves healthcare institutions, life science researchers, clinical laboratories, the pharmaceutical industry and the general public.

To whom do you report?

I report to the Director, Project Management and Engineering Services, who in turn reports to the CFO.

How many years have you worked in the profession?

I have been the Director of Real Estate since 1999. Prior to this position I managed construction projects for BD that sometimes included a real estate component.

Where and what did you study?

I earned a BS in Civil Engineering from Bucknell University and an MBA from Columbia University.

Describe the most important transaction or project for which you were responsible.

I am not sure which was the most important, but I was involved in several recent site searches for important new manufacturing facilities, including in Suzhou, China, Miami, Fla., and Wilson, N.C. I was able to combine the Wilson project with three other North Carolina expansion projects to negotiate a $3-million Job Development Investment Grant from the state.

What is the biggest professional challenge you face on a regular basis?

BD has grown over the past few years through the acquisitions of small companies with early-stage products.

Mark your calendar …

IAMC Professional Forum in Asheville, North Carolina, May 2 - 6, 2009

The Spring 2009 IAMC Professional Forum is May 2 - 6, in Asheville, North Carolina, at the Grove Park Inn.

Trying to get my hands around the business plan and understand the growth needs in order to translate to a real estate plan has been a real challenge.

How is the role of manager of real estate evolving?

My role can be different on every transaction, and this has been the case since I started in this position. Sometimes I am brought in early on and help develop the business case. Other times, I am brought in toward the end to manage the transaction. It varies depending on the project, the business group and the country.

Which technology do you consider to be essential in your professional life?

I have recently begun using the Web-based document management solutions provided by the law firms and brokerage houses that I engage. The ability to have one central location to store all documents and keep track of the latest revisions has been a huge time saver, and keeps me very organized.

What is the value of IAMC membership to you?

IAMC's value to me is the ability to network with real estate executives from other manufacturing-based companies. Since I am a department of one, I am always looking for ideas that will make me more efficient while providing more value to the company. It is also a great network for keeping in touch with the latest trends in the industry.

BD Makes Miami Move

n late May, the Miami project mentioned by Karen De Marinis above came to fruition with the announcement by the Beacon Council, Miami-Dade County's economic development arm, that BD would invest $21.1 million in renovating 90,000 sq. ft. (8,361 sq. m.) at a building along I-95 in North Miami formerly owned by IVAX Pharmaceuticals, now a part of Teva Pharmaceuticals.
BD will turn the renovated property into a BD Biosciences manufacturing facility, making cell culture media supplements that are used in the production of vaccines and biopharmaceuticals. The deal is the culmination of a recruiting effort begun by the Beacon Council in 2006, the year Teva acquired IVAX. BD qualified for state and local performance-based incentives totaling $1,408,450.
BD acquired the entire 253,066-sq.-ft. (23,510-sq.-m.) property from IVAX in August 2007, leasing back 112,000 sq. ft. (10,405 sq. m.) of the property to IVAX for a 10-year term. The remainder of the space (51,066 sq. ft, or 4,744 sq. m.) is reserved for future expansion.

— Adam Bruns

Finally, Coke Adds Life to Wexford

ixteen months after shelving a proposal to invest approximately $200 million in a 150-job concentrate plant in Wexford, Ireland (after initially considering a similar project in 1998), Coca-Cola in July submitted a plan to instead invest more than $300 million in a combined flavor manufacturing and innovation complex on 41 acres (17 hectares) in the southeast Irish city's Wexford Business Park that would create more than 100 jobs in five years. The announcement comes as the company concludes the closing of another manufacturing facility in Drogheda, in the northeast region of the Republic.
"The Company's decision to submit a planning application to Wexford County Council was preceded by an extensive due diligence and site selection process," said Crystal Warwell Walker, Coca-Cola spokesperson. "We have enjoyed a long-standing relationship with Ireland and we look forward to this next step in the consideration of this important project."

Applied in Asia

ithin two weeks in July, Applied Materials, which offers equipment, services and software products for the fabrication of semiconductor chips, flat panel displays, solar photovoltaic cells, flexible electronics and energy efficient glass, broke ground for an Asia Operations Center in Singapore and a manufacturing center expansion in Tainan, Taiwan.

Applied Materials' new Singapore operations facility (above) will serve as a hub for company business activities throughout Asia. Its new Tainan Manufacturing Center in Taiwan, meanwhile, will supplement existing operations for display and solar in the United States and Germany.

      The 344,456-sq.-ft. (32,000-sq.-m.) hub in Changi North Industrial Park in Singapore will be complete in 2009, and will be a base for global purchasing, sales, manufacturing, engineering and financial groups to support the Asia region chip industry and the rapidly growing solar markets in India and China. In its efforts to earn the BCA Green Mark Platinum certification, the highest environmental rating for a building in Singapore, the company will install what it says is likely the largest commercial solar array in Singapore, where the company has been operating for 17 years and employs 400.
      "Sitting at a virtual crossroads between India and China, Singapore has proven to be a friendly and great place to do business with its strong transportation and logistics network, extensive supplier base and talented work force," said Mike Splinter, president and CEO of Applied Materials.
      In Tainan, a $17-million investment will add 55,974 sq. ft. (7,200 sq. m.) to Applied Materials'

Liberty Property Trust and its partners celebrated the June grand opening of the $850-million Comcast Center in downtown Philadelphia.

existing campus, bringing its total size to 150,700 sq. ft. (14,000 sq. m.). The project increases capacity for the company's AKT flat panel display equipment and SunFab™ Thin Film Solar manufacturing equipment.

What Liberty Did During Summer Vacation

n July, Malvern, Pa.-based REIT Liberty Property Trust was named Developer of the Year by The National Association of Industrial and Office Properties. In June, the developer celebrated something big too: the grand opening of its $850-million Comcast Center in Philadelphia. The structure's 58 floors make it the tallest building in Pennsylvania, home to 2,900 Comcast employees and some 1.25 million sq. ft. (116,125 sq. m.) of Class A office, retail and restaurant space, in addition to an eight-story winter garden. Like all Liberty office buildings, it's aiming for LEED certification.

The Eastern Europe Play

number of IAMC member firms announced projects in Eastern Europe this summer. BASF, through its subsidiary Elastogran, will open two new sites in the next two years for polyurethane production, distribution and development in Poznan, Poland, and near Bratislava, Slovakia. ProLogis completed a 258,342-sq.-ft. (24,000-sq.-m.)

distribution center in Nove Mesto nad Vahom, Slovakia, in 10 months for the immediate move-in of fashion retailer C&A.
"By autumn 2008, our logistics requirements for Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland that are currently handled in Austria will be centralized and managed out of our new distribution center in Nove Mesto," said Christian Dreyer of C&A. "This will result in the creation of 300 new jobs by summer 2009, which will support further development of the Nove Mesto region."
In late July, Holcim Romania commissioned a new kiln at its plant in Campulung (above), increasing capacity by one-third with an investment equivalent to US$178 million. Holcim Romania employs 1,400. Since 1998, cement consumption in the country has increased by 150 percent.