5. EDSR 09-11-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Appendix E: Relevant News Articles (cont.) Copyright 2006 Dolan Media Newswires Finance & Commerce (Minneapolis, MN) June 22, 2006 Thursday SECTION: NEWS LENGTH: 500 words HEADLINE: Indianapolis-based Duke Realty Corp. flexes its development muscle in Twin Cities BYLINE: Burl Gilyard BODY Duke Realty Corp. has two metro sites under contract for industrial development, including a 137-acre Lakeville parcel that it plans to develop into 1.5 million square feet of space. The second project is in Afton, where the company hopes to develop about 350,000 to 360,000 square feet on a 37-acre site. Pat Mascia, senior vice president for Indianapolis-based Duke's Twin Cities operations, said that he anticipates closing on both parcels before the end of the year. The Lakeville site will be a phased project, developed over three to five years. "The plans are to turn that into a bulk warehouse/office warehouse industrial park," Mascia said. Mascia cited the proximity to the interstate as a key part of the site's appeal. "It's a growing community. It's well- located real estate." The Lakeville site, at Dodd Boulevard and County Road 70 near Interstate 35, is currently farmland. "This is furthering our strategy of focusing on two industrial submarkets, the south and the northwest," Mascia said. He said Duke has plans for another large industrial park in Otsego, in the booming northwest submarket. The Afton site, near Manning Avenue and Hudson Road off Interstate 94, doesn't fit into either of those geographic submarkets. "It was a site that just looked to be a very good development site; we had an opportunity to use the land quickly," Mascia said. "The Afton site is more of a one-off development opportunity." Last year, Duke sold 30 local buildings totaling 2.15 million square feet as part of a large national deal with Chicago-based First Industrial Realty Trust. The deal signaled that Duke was paring flex properties from its industrial portfolio. Meanwhile, Duke has been getting busy again as a local developer. Last November, Duke completed Crosstown 12, a 324,000-square-foot industrial facility in Brooklyn Park. The project is now close to 70 percent leased, according to Mascia. Duke is also planning a 1.4 million-square-foot industrial development in Otsego. Mascia said Duke is "interested" in breaking ground this year "if market conditions permit." "We're primarily a developer," Mascia said. "Basically we're able to do better and make more money as a developer than we can in the current acquisitions market with pricing the way it is." In April, Duke broke ground on the 322,000-square-foot Norman Pointe I I Office Tower in Bloomington. The Norman Pointe project put Duke first out of the gate with a new office tower in the Twin Cities market.