Teamwork

hen Caterpillar announced August 12 that it would build a new 500-job excavator manufacturing plant in Victoria, Texas, near Houston, it was the fruition of a study the company had announced in March. It was also Cat's fourth new facility announcement in two weeks, and the latest in a summer flurry of global projects from the Peoria, Ill.-based firm. (See the Texas Spotlight on p. 698 for more on the Victoria project.) Here's the highlight reel:

June 17: In multiple moves to grow its position in the mining industry, Cat chooses its wheel loader manufacturing facility in Aurora, Ill., to produce a new range of mining shovels. Cat says it will also accelerate its planned capacity expansion at its mining truck plant in Decatur, Ill. A separate mining truck expansion will take place at its plant in Thiruvallur, India, near Chennai. All told, these expansions will mean nearly $700 million in capital investment through 2014.

June 28: Cat announces a major expansion of excavator production at its site in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China, that will increase China excavator capacity by 400 percent by 2014. The expansion involves two separate new facilities, one for large excavators, and one for small and medium-sized excavators.

June 29: While the final location is undetermined, Cat announces it's in the final stages of site selection for a new backhoe loader and small wheel loader manufacturing facility in Brazil. Construction of the new facility is expected to begin in late 2010 or early 2011, pending final site approvals. The new facility will allow Cat's existing operations in Piracicaba, Brazil, to ramp up production volume on other products.

July 30: Winston-Salem, N.C., beats out Spartanburg, S.C., and Montgomery, Ala., for a new 850,000-sq.-ft. (78,965-sq.-m.) Cat axle manufacturing and assembly facility for its expanding global mining operations. The project is expected to create 400 new jobs over the next five years, adding to the Cat payroll of roughly 1,000 who already work at nine other locations in the state. "This location will improve our supply chain efficiency and, as a result, allows us to better serve our customers more effectively while reducing operating costs," said Hans Haefeli, vice president of Cat's Advanced Components & Systems Division. A combined incentive package of some $23.5 million was offered by Winston-Salem and Forsyth County.

August 3: Cat announces it will locate the new Black Hills Engineering Design Center at the Black Hills Business Development Center in Rapid City, S.D. When staffed at full capacity, it will employ up to 100 people, and complement the company's other such centers in Champaign, Ill., and Chennai, India. The project builds on a longstanding relationship between Caterpillar and the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.

August 5: Cat announces it will expand its compact construction equipment operations in Sanford, N.C. Published reports peg the investment at $30 million, helped by $900,000 from Lee County. Plans include a 270,000-sq.-ft. (25,083-sq.-m.) addition that will house logistics and the latest robotic welding technology for fabrication. Some 325 jobs will be added over five years, bringing the site's payroll to 750. "By expanding its stake in North Carolina, Caterpillar has demonstrated that our own investments in education, worker training, transportation and infrastructure have paid off," said North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue.

he Keith Corp. will develop and lease a new 719,812-sq.-ft. (66,870-sq.-m.) distribution facility to BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) in the Four Oaks Business Park, Town of Four Oaks, Johnston County, N.C. The project is expandable to over 1.1 million sq. ft. (102,190 sq. m.) and will be located on a 130-acre (53-hectare) site.

The project team consists of Choate Construction, Merriman Schmitt Architects, and McKim & Creed Engineers. “A tremendous cooperative effort among the Town of Four Oaks, Johnston County, the State of North Carolina, the NC Rural Center, the Johnston County Industrial Development Corporation, and private landowners helped make this deal possible,” said a release from The Keith Corp. Below is a rendering of the facility.

fizer announced in July its investment of $100 million in expanding its Singapore Nutrition Plant (formerly a property of recently acquired Wyeth) to 989,914 sq. ft. (91,963 sq. m.). The expansion of the plant to the size of 17 football fields has boosted production capacity by 50 percent and increased the plant's ability to supply nutrition products for infants and children to Singapore and key markets such as China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Vietnam. The plant's Quality Operations staff alone numbers 120. Pfizer has added 100 employees during the expansion, bringing total plant employment to 587.

The plant is part of Pfizer Global Manufacturing's Nutrition Operating Unit, which also operates manufacturing facilities in Ireland, China, Mexico and the Philippines.

n an effort to improve operational efficiencies and standardize delivery models, Bristol-Myers Squibb announced in July it has selected Johnson Controls' Global Workplace Solutions division to manage the day-to-day facility management of office sites, manufacturing facilities, and research and development laboratories in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

esigner-builder Clayco Inc. and developer Venture One Real Estate, LLC broke ground Monday, August 9, on a new 650,000-sq.-ft. (60,385-sq.-m.) build-to-suit regional distribution center for 3M in Park 88 Industrial Park in DeKalb, Ill. "3M's new facility represents the fourth expansion of 3M's operations in DeKalb during the past six years, bringing their total occupancy to almost 1.6 million square feet [148,640 sq. m.]," said Mark B. Goode, SIOR, CCIM, Principal of Venture One Real Estate, LLC. The project is located on a 49-acre (20-hectare) site in DeKalb's Park 88 Commercial Logistics Park, and will feature 23,000 sq. ft. (2,137 sq. m.) of office space, 70 loading dock positions and 400 trailer parking spaces. Construction is expected to be complete in April 2011.

ockefeller Group Development Corp. in July broke ground on BASF's new 325,000-sq.-ft. (30,193-sq.-m.) North American headquarters at The Green at Florham Park, N.J. The facility (rendering below) is aiming for LEED-Platinum certification. BASF products will be used in the construction and contribute to the sustainability of the building.

The Green at Florham Park is a 268-acre (109-hectare) master planned development designed to accommodate more than 800,000 sq. ft. (74,320 sq. m.) of office space, a full-service hotel, an active adult residential community, and the Atlantic Health New York Jets Training Center. Atlantic Health plans to build tje four-story Atlantic Sports Health Institute within the park.

Among RGDC's other recently completed projects is General Mills' 1.5-million-sq.-ft. (139,350-sq.-m.) distribution center in Social Circle, Ga., near Atlanta. It is the largest LEED-Gold certified building in the U.S.

n June, IAMC Executive Director Ron Starner attended the Real Estate Association Chief Staff Officer Summit in Washington, D.C., joining leaders from BOMA, SIOR, NAIOP, ULI and every other major real estate association in the country.