MNdude
02-12-2007, 02:43 AM
Fueled by growth and the desire for productivity, corporate campuses are popping up around the Twin Cities area.
http://media.startribune.com/smedia/2007/02/09/21/404-3451346.standalone.prod_affiliate.2.jpg
Medtronic’s new Mounds View campus for its cardiac rhythm disease management division will open in the fall.
By Susan Feyder, Star Tribune
Last update: February 11, 2007 – 4:14 PM
For years, the company campus was thought to be a candidate for the endangered-species list, the victim of downsizing and technological advances that allowed more people to work from home or smaller, satellite offices.
But huge corporate complexes haven't gone away. If anything, they're staging something of a comeback as companies rediscover the advantages of bringing large numbers of employees together in unified settings. Companies also are finding that large developments stand a better chance of getting public financial assistance, such as tax-increment financing, because of their scale and promised benefits to local economies.
Last month's announcement by Thomson Corp. that it plans a $100 million expansion of its Thomson West offices in Eagan was the latest in a series of ambitious office complex projects underway or on the drawing boards in the Twin Cities area. Others include Medtronic's new facilities in Mounds View for its cardiac rhythm management division, UnitedHealth Group's expansion of its Minnetonka headquarters and Cargill's move to occupy two -- and possibly all three -- buildings in Excelsior Crossings, a $130 million office complex in Hopkins.
Target last fall completed an expansion of its corporate campus in Brooklyn Park, where it has about 1,400 employees. Its long-term plans envision a virtual corporate city on 334 acres in Brooklyn Park with 8 million square feet of offices, 2 million square feet of retail and commercial space and 3,000 housing units.
Companies' interest in developing corporate campuses is "a combination of economics, corporate culture and image," said Tim Murnane, Opus Northwest senior vice president. The Minnetonka-based developer's current projects include the new offices for UnitedHealth, Cargill and Medtronic's cardiac business.
One of Opus' largest projects was the Best Buy corporate campus in Richfield, a four-building complex that opened in 2003 and brought together about 5,000 employees previously scattered in about a dozen offices.
"The idea was to keep people together and not lose the connectivity," Murnane said of that development. One of its more unusual features is the Hub, a 215,000-square-foot space linking the office towers and encouraging "casual collisions" of employees to share ideas and foster creativity, he said.
The design of Medtronic's Mounds View facilities also aims to encourage interaction, said Steve Mahle, a Medtronic vice president and president of the cardiac rhythm management division. The project's three towers will be linked with a seven-story area that will provide conference areas as well as walkways.
The Medtronic campus also will have a bank, fitness center, child-care facilities, food service and service retail. "Many of these amenities can only be supported with a large-enough employee population," Mahle said.
Mahle said Medtronic expects to spend about $200 million over the next five years developing the Mounds View site. Initially about 3,500 scientists, engineers and other workers will move to the complex when the buildings under construction are completed this fall. Most will transfer from Fridley, but others will come from facilities in Arden Hills, Shoreview and Bloomington. A later phase is planned for 2012.
"Knowledge workers need to have the ability to interact," said Rich King, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Thomson West, a division of business and legal data publisher Thomson Corp. King said the campus also can make a favorable impression on prospective customers.
"They can see that we have all the infrastructure in place," he said.
Thomson West's expansion, which includes a 425,000-square-foot office building and 80,000-square-foot data center, would add about 2,000 employees to its workforce in Eagan, about 1,100 new workers and about 900 transferred from offices outside Minnesota.
A corporate campus "can be very valuable when it comes to recruiting and retaining employees," said Collin Barr, president of the Minnesota region of Ryan Companies. Ryan's large-scale office developments include Target Corporation's Minneapolis headquarters, which houses most of its 8,000 downtown employees. Barr said the amenities typically found on corporate campuses, such as banks, dry cleaners and child care facilities, can contribute to productivity by reducing the need for employees to leave work for errands.
Rich Varda, Target vice president of store design, said having large numbers of employees at a central location cuts down on travel time when different departments need to meet. "A certain amount of things you can do by phone or e-mail, but sometimes you really have to be in rooms talking face to face," he said.
Varda said there is no set timetable for expanding the Brooklyn Park campus. But the long-term goal is to create a complex that replicates the environment and services downtown Target workers have, including proximity to housing and retail, he said.
Cargill also is seeking to provide a work environment similar to its Minnetonka headquarters at Excelsior Crossings, where it will relocate employees now at four office buildings elsewhere in Minnetonka, said John McCabe, vice president and manager of the company's office services department.
McCabe said employee surveys revealed that workers at the other locations didn't feel like they belonged to the company. Another plus, he said, was the cost-effectiveness of providing employee food services and other amenities at fewer locations.
Cargill chose Excelsior Crossings because it is close to its headquarters and because the new buildings will be finished about the time leases expire at the buildings it will vacate. Although it has agreed to occupy two buildings, McCabe said Cargill is negotiating with Opus to occupy all three towers at the development.
Besides developing corporate campuses for other companies, Opus will do some work at its own headquarters in Minnetonka beginning this summer, Murnane said. The goal will be to expand, move workers from an Edina office and link the new offices with existing buildings at the Minnetonka site with skyways.
Murnane said the project is expected to be completed in March 2008.
"We're looking forward to pulling our people together and practicing what we preach," he said.
Susan Feyder • 612-673-1723 • sfeyder@startribune.com
http://www.startribune.com/535/story/993404.html
http://media.startribune.com/smedia/2007/02/09/21/404-3451346.standalone.prod_affiliate.2.jpg
Medtronic’s new Mounds View campus for its cardiac rhythm disease management division will open in the fall.
By Susan Feyder, Star Tribune
Last update: February 11, 2007 – 4:14 PM
For years, the company campus was thought to be a candidate for the endangered-species list, the victim of downsizing and technological advances that allowed more people to work from home or smaller, satellite offices.
But huge corporate complexes haven't gone away. If anything, they're staging something of a comeback as companies rediscover the advantages of bringing large numbers of employees together in unified settings. Companies also are finding that large developments stand a better chance of getting public financial assistance, such as tax-increment financing, because of their scale and promised benefits to local economies.
Last month's announcement by Thomson Corp. that it plans a $100 million expansion of its Thomson West offices in Eagan was the latest in a series of ambitious office complex projects underway or on the drawing boards in the Twin Cities area. Others include Medtronic's new facilities in Mounds View for its cardiac rhythm management division, UnitedHealth Group's expansion of its Minnetonka headquarters and Cargill's move to occupy two -- and possibly all three -- buildings in Excelsior Crossings, a $130 million office complex in Hopkins.
Target last fall completed an expansion of its corporate campus in Brooklyn Park, where it has about 1,400 employees. Its long-term plans envision a virtual corporate city on 334 acres in Brooklyn Park with 8 million square feet of offices, 2 million square feet of retail and commercial space and 3,000 housing units.
Companies' interest in developing corporate campuses is "a combination of economics, corporate culture and image," said Tim Murnane, Opus Northwest senior vice president. The Minnetonka-based developer's current projects include the new offices for UnitedHealth, Cargill and Medtronic's cardiac business.
One of Opus' largest projects was the Best Buy corporate campus in Richfield, a four-building complex that opened in 2003 and brought together about 5,000 employees previously scattered in about a dozen offices.
"The idea was to keep people together and not lose the connectivity," Murnane said of that development. One of its more unusual features is the Hub, a 215,000-square-foot space linking the office towers and encouraging "casual collisions" of employees to share ideas and foster creativity, he said.
The design of Medtronic's Mounds View facilities also aims to encourage interaction, said Steve Mahle, a Medtronic vice president and president of the cardiac rhythm management division. The project's three towers will be linked with a seven-story area that will provide conference areas as well as walkways.
The Medtronic campus also will have a bank, fitness center, child-care facilities, food service and service retail. "Many of these amenities can only be supported with a large-enough employee population," Mahle said.
Mahle said Medtronic expects to spend about $200 million over the next five years developing the Mounds View site. Initially about 3,500 scientists, engineers and other workers will move to the complex when the buildings under construction are completed this fall. Most will transfer from Fridley, but others will come from facilities in Arden Hills, Shoreview and Bloomington. A later phase is planned for 2012.
"Knowledge workers need to have the ability to interact," said Rich King, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Thomson West, a division of business and legal data publisher Thomson Corp. King said the campus also can make a favorable impression on prospective customers.
"They can see that we have all the infrastructure in place," he said.
Thomson West's expansion, which includes a 425,000-square-foot office building and 80,000-square-foot data center, would add about 2,000 employees to its workforce in Eagan, about 1,100 new workers and about 900 transferred from offices outside Minnesota.
A corporate campus "can be very valuable when it comes to recruiting and retaining employees," said Collin Barr, president of the Minnesota region of Ryan Companies. Ryan's large-scale office developments include Target Corporation's Minneapolis headquarters, which houses most of its 8,000 downtown employees. Barr said the amenities typically found on corporate campuses, such as banks, dry cleaners and child care facilities, can contribute to productivity by reducing the need for employees to leave work for errands.
Rich Varda, Target vice president of store design, said having large numbers of employees at a central location cuts down on travel time when different departments need to meet. "A certain amount of things you can do by phone or e-mail, but sometimes you really have to be in rooms talking face to face," he said.
Varda said there is no set timetable for expanding the Brooklyn Park campus. But the long-term goal is to create a complex that replicates the environment and services downtown Target workers have, including proximity to housing and retail, he said.
Cargill also is seeking to provide a work environment similar to its Minnetonka headquarters at Excelsior Crossings, where it will relocate employees now at four office buildings elsewhere in Minnetonka, said John McCabe, vice president and manager of the company's office services department.
McCabe said employee surveys revealed that workers at the other locations didn't feel like they belonged to the company. Another plus, he said, was the cost-effectiveness of providing employee food services and other amenities at fewer locations.
Cargill chose Excelsior Crossings because it is close to its headquarters and because the new buildings will be finished about the time leases expire at the buildings it will vacate. Although it has agreed to occupy two buildings, McCabe said Cargill is negotiating with Opus to occupy all three towers at the development.
Besides developing corporate campuses for other companies, Opus will do some work at its own headquarters in Minnetonka beginning this summer, Murnane said. The goal will be to expand, move workers from an Edina office and link the new offices with existing buildings at the Minnetonka site with skyways.
Murnane said the project is expected to be completed in March 2008.
"We're looking forward to pulling our people together and practicing what we preach," he said.
Susan Feyder • 612-673-1723 • sfeyder@startribune.com
http://www.startribune.com/535/story/993404.html
