Investor Watch: February 9, 2026

A $1 billion U.S. facility investment plan from Siemens Energy includes a $300 million, 300-job high-voltage switchgear manufacturing facility coming to West Rankin Industrial Park in Mississippi. A new behind-the-meter law fuels engineering firm Mecad USA’s new HQ at Tulsa Port of Catoosa. Canada’s Cyclic Materials embarks on the company’s largest rare earths recycling campus in South Carolina’s Chesterfield County, one hour away from a key customer.

TENNESSEE

Tennessee’s capital city is primed to gain an underground transportation system unlike any in the Southeast, thanks to the decidedly non-boring plans of The Boring Company.

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A GM plant in Ohio will be repurposed for data center equipment manufacturing. Gallup reveals the top 10 U.S. states by health care experiences. Georgia is one of seven states welcoming animal vaccine manufacturing from Zoetis. Autonomous ships set sail on Louisiana’s Gulf Coast. Marvell makes semiconductor equipment investments across Ontario. South Korea’s Celltrion will invest nearly $500 million in revamping a former Eli Lilly and Co. facility for its own pharma manufacturing.

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A construction crew poses atop GSA headquarters in 1917.
Photo courtesy of GSA

What’s the upshot of last year’s massive drawdown of federal agency headcounts and parallel pullback on federal building leases? Last summer Avison Young unveiled its Federal Property Pulse tool that tracks General Services Administration leases and lease cancellations.

While predominantly focused on private-sector workplace occupiers, Site Selection has reported on federal government property practices at regular intervals, including Ron Starner’s July 2002 conversation with the General Services Administration’s Public Buildings Service Commissioner Joe Moravec about the agency’s Federal Property Asset Management Reform package and Starner’s November 2006 interview with Moravec’s successor David Winstead, who testified as recently as last year before Congress as a board member of the Public Buildings Reform Board he helped establish in 2016.

Watch this space for an upcoming conversation with two Avison Young leaders on what the future could hold for all that federal property.

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Photo by Alvarog1970: Getty Images

Based on surveys of 3,411 frontline workers across 26 markets, a January report from JLL called The Forgotten Workforce finds that retail and health care employees, bank branch staff, factory and lab warehouse workers and lab and education personnel report consistently lower satisfaction regardless of how purpose-built their workplaces are.

“Perhaps most concerning, the research identifies significant engagement challenges among frontline workers,” JLL states. “Nearly half do not consider their company a great place to work compared to only 38% of office workers, and 44% report burnout versus 39% of office workers. Yet, they do not intend to leave more than their office counterparts: Twenty-two percent of frontline workers could consider leaving within the next 12 months.”

JLL’s five recommendations include: “designing infrastructure that supports flexible scheduling; prioritizing physical environment upgrades, including ergonomic zones and acoustic solutions; integrating wellbeing infrastructure into operational design; creating AI-ready learning environments; and developing spaces that foster managerial empowerment.”

Photo-rendering courtesy of BMG

In early 2027, Bertelsmann music company BMG will move its Berlin headquarters two blocks away to the top floor of the iconic Lumina building, which housed the Galeries Lafayette department store until 2024 and is currently undergoing redevelopment. The move to the building designed by Jean Nouvel follows a lease agreement with the global real estate company Tishman Speyer, BMG recently announced.

After the renovation by Tishman Speyer is complete, BMG said, amenities available to tenants will include “a large rooftop featuring a garden area and panoramic views of Friedrichstrasse, a spacious bicycle garage with changing facilities, and dedicated event spaces. The building is also targeting certification for environmental sustainability (LEED), occupant well-being (WELL), digital connectivity (WiredScore), and its transportation concept (Good Mobility).”