OFFICE DEPOT's NEW $ 100 Million HEADQUARTERS !

[Anonymous]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sfl-flzodp1119sbnov19,0,2004360
Office Depot’s new $100 million headquarters in Boca Raton is designed to foster interaction
After
17 years in Delray Beach, the nation’s largest office-supplies retailer
built a $100 million corporate headquarters less than three miles away
in Boca Raton.The first of about 2,000 employees began moving in
earlier this month, and the arrivals will continue through the first
week of December.Office Depot’s new concrete structure rises above
Military Trail at Clint Moore Road, overlooking a golf course.
Employees now are housed in one building instead of three, as they were
on Old Germantown Road and Congress Avenue in Delray Beach.The company
considered moving out of South Florida but “we felt we would suffer a
tremendous loss of talent if we moved away,” said David Fannin, former
general counsel who served as project manager for the new
headquarters.The new home office has been more than two years in
planning. A previous site, at Blue Lake in Boca Raton, was scrapped in
October 2004, and that property was sold back to the developer.

Then
another Boca Raton site became available in 2006, and Office Depot
agreed to a “build to suit” proposal from Flagler Development Corp.,
which owns the new building in a partnership with TIAA-Cref, the
teachers’ pension fund. Office Depot has a 15-year lease on the
building, with options to extend.Office Depot sold its Delray Beach
campus for $80 million to Lincoln Financial, an insurance firm based
near Philadelphia.

The new headquarters has a more flexible
design so it can be reconfigured to accommodate either Office Depot’s
future needs or a new tenant.”From an economic standpoint, it’s not a
real burden,” said Fannin, though he admitted the new headquarters was
an easier decision in November 2006, when Office Depot’s stock was
trading above $41 a share. The stock has plummeted this year, along
with many consumer stocks. It closed Tuesday on the New York Stock
Exchange at $1.93.

A new corporate home gives Office Depot the
opportunity to ensure work groups are together and encourages
brainstorming.A wide hallway runs the length of the building and
overlooks the golf course of Broken Sound Country Club. Along the
hallway are “huddle” areas, with casual chairs and tables, where
employees can chat. Or, they can book one of the many conference
rooms.”We want to encourage people from all disciplines to interact
with their peers,” Fannin said. “When you look at the most creative
companies in the world, the key is openness and interaction.”

Other
features Fannin considers an improvement are high-speed elevators, a
cafeteria with an outdoor patio to take advantage of South Florida’s
sunny days, and standard-size offices and workstations so no one is
fighting over the “corner office.””It is not a Taj Mahal,” said Fannin,
responding to some employees’ reaction to a grandiose structure in
frugal economic times. “Several of the executives have smaller offices
than they had at the former headquarters, and they’re all
uniform.”Employees also will find new amenities in the building:
covered parking, a gym with exercise equipment and pilates classes, and
“mothers’ rooms,” for women who are breast-feeding.The interior decor
comes right from an Office Depot store — paper clips and shredded paper
are enclosed in partition walls. “Fun facts,” such as “who invented the
power calculator,” adorn the walls.

Phil Rault, an analyst for
merchandising, said the difference between the old and new building is
unbelievable. “It’s easier to find people, to schedule a meeting,” he
said.Though his workstation is “a little tighter,” Derek Sall likes the
sunlight the building lets in.”I didn’t know whether it was sunshine or
raining,” in the former headquarters, said Sall, who also works in
merchandising.

[Author]

November 26, 2008 at 2:06 PM