Posted: Apr 22, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
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Sydney Townsend
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Sunwest Communications
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KDC, M.L. HARRIS & COMPANY BREAK GROUND ON NEW FBI FIELD OFFICE
160,000-square-foot facility is designed to achieve LEED Gold certification
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – April 22, 2011 – KDC, one of America’s leading commercial real estate and investment firms, in a joint venture with M.L. Harris & Company, broke ground on the new Federal Bureau of Investigation field office building in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Located at 5425 West Amelia Earhart Drive in Salt Lake City, the building will feature four stories and 160,000 square feet of space.
“We appreciate the commitment that both the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and the FBI have demonstrated to the KDC/M.L. Harris & Company venture,” said Larry Wilson, KDC division president, southeast. “The effort put forth by all involved parties has been excellent and we look forward to delivering a building that will allow the FBI to better serve our country.”
The new building is expected to achieve LEED® Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system, providing third-party verification that a building has been designed and built using strategies aimed at improving overall performance. The project team expects to use building materials that contain at least 30 percent recycled content. The building materials will be comprised of matter that has been extracted and manufactured within 500 miles of the project site.
“GSA is leading the way on the use of innovative technology in buildings to cut energy usage, save money and boost a new American energy industry,” said Susan Damour, GSA’s Rocky Mountain Regional Administrator. “Commercial real estate accounts for nearly 20 percent of U.S. energy use, making the sector one of the biggest opportunities for GSA to curb greenhouse gas emissions and build a 21st century, clean-energy economy.”
Through projects just like this, GSA continues to invest in clean energy and create new jobs. GSA expects to save or create more than 500 construction jobs, a great majority of which will be filled by the local community.
“This is a significant occasion for the citizens of Utah, Montana and Idaho, as well as the employees of the FBI’s Salt Lake City Field Office,” said James McTighe, special agent in charge. “The completion of this state-of-the-art, standalone facility will enhance the FBI’s ability to protect Americans from national security and criminal threats by increasing our efficiency and capacity to collaborate with our federal, state and local partners. We are thankful to the GSA, M. L. Harris, and KDC Development for their work on this project and we look forward to its completion.”
The FBI and GSA developed a 10-year acquisition program aimed at replacing or modernizing 39 FBI field offices and four major resident agency facilities across the country. The bulk of these projects are being accomplished through build-to-suit lease construction, including this project. The project is expected to be complete late summer of 2012.
The architect is Rees Associates of Oklahoma City and the general contractor is VCC Construction of Atlanta. M.L. Harris and KDC are the owners and developers of the facility, and GSA – on behalf of the FBI – will lease space under a 20-year firm term.
About KDC
KDC, one of America’s leading commercial real estate and investment companies, provides a full range of commercial real estate services including corporate build-to-suit development, acquisitions, corporate facility project/construction management, project financing, asset and land management, and marketing and leasing. KDC is headquartered in Dallas and has offices in Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; and Detroit. For more information visit kdc.com.
About the U.S. General Services Administration
As the federal government’s workplace solutions provider, the U.S. General Services Administration works to foster an effective, sustainable and transparent government for the American people. GSA’s expertise in government workplace solutions include:
• Effective management of government assets including more than 9,600 government-owned or leased buildings and 215,000 vehicles in the federal fleet, and preservation of historic federal properties;
• Leveraging the government’s buying power through responsible acquisition of products and services making up approximately 14 percent of the government’s total procurement dollars;
• Providing innovative technology solutions to enhance government efficiency and increase citizen engagement; and,
• Promoting responsible use of federal resources through development of government-wide policies ranging from federal travel to property and management practices.
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