Summer Issue 2021 - 58

foot (74,000 sq m) indoor farm where human
workers and automated systems tend rows of cannabis
plants. It is capable of producing more than
220,000 pounds (100,000 kg) a year for medical
and recreational use.
But that's not all. Myron Keehn, vice president
for air service and business development for
Edmonton's airport, says that the airport is working
to add a drone aircraft delivery service. It also
recently signed a deal to build a 627-acre (254 ha),
120-megawatt solar energy installation capable of
producing enough electricity to take 30,000 homes
off the grid. The airport even helped a farmer get
Thinking Outside
the Box, Industrial
Developers Add
Amenities
With features such as mezzanine
offices above warehouse
spaces and shared-amenity areas
in which people can exercise and
socialize, developers are transforming
the once-staid genre of
industrial buildings by incorporating
features comparable to those
typically found in office and mixeduse
projects, according to a panel
at the 2021 ULI Virtual Spring
Meeting. Panelists also described
design changes made to facilitate
the increasingly rapid movement
of e-commerce goods and rooftop
solar installations that can supply
most of a building's energy needs.
Panel moderator Jessica Ostermick,
director of industrial and
logistics for CBRE's New England
operation, challenged what she
described as a common misperception
that industrial development
the permits needed to grow hemp in a field on airport
property, with the aim of producing seeds for
food and as bedding for horses. " It's good for that
because it doesn't get moldy, " Keehn says.
" We see ourselves as an economic engine for
the region we serve, not just as a place for people
to come in and out of, " Keehn says. The airport,
which is run by a community-based private nonprofit
organization, works closely with local governments
to attract new businesses, and measures its success
not just in terms of air passengers or cargo metrics
but also " by how much investment we bring in, how
many jobs we've helped to create, " he notes.
tends to be formulaic and less
creative.
" There are plenty of projects
across the U.S. where developers
are seeking innovation and distinctive
design, " she said.
Matt Mitchell, vice president for
industrial at Denver-based Westfield
Co., said that his company's
partially completed Pecos Logistics
Park includes conference rooms,
flexible meeting space for corporate
training, a kitchen with indoor
and outdoor dining areas, and even
a bike storage space with shower
facilities for workers who are twowheeled
commuters.
Those features " add something
that you don't see every day in
your generic industrial building, "
he said.
But the amenities also can add
value for tenants because they are
afforded the option of using more
of their space for true logistics
activity rather than having to build
out office and meeting space that
would often go unused, Mitchell
explained. While many larger
national tenants may still opt for
traditional office plans, the amenities
are particularly attractive to
local and regional companies for
which the site is their only location.
HighPoint Elevated, a cuttingedge
industrial and logistics park
in Aurora, Colorado, that is being
developed by Minneapolis-based
Hyde Development and M.A.
Mortenson, is designed to interconnect
to nearby residential areas
and a hospitality and retail corridor.
According to the project's
website, it could eventually include
15 buildings and more than 5.5 million
square feet (511,000 sq m) of
class A space.
Paul Hyde, president and CEO of
Hyde Development, said HighPoint's
concept and design reflect the
need to " create a community where
people could live and work and go to
lunch or dinner, or have a beer after
with friends or coworkers. "
That objective " forced us to
reexamine what it meant to create a
modern industrial park, " Hyde noted.
He said the project draws inspiration
in part from a historical source-
the communities that existed several
centuries ago at the beginning of the
Industrial Revolution, when people
58
URBAN LAND
SUMMER 2021
Summer Issue 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Summer Issue 2021
