SOURCE: Duke Realty Corporation

 

INDIANAPOLIS, IN--(Marketwire - August 29, 2008) - Duke Realty Corporation (NYSE: DRE) has been selected to construct a 403,800-square foot, built-to-suit office campus for GE Aviation, an operating unit of General Electric Corporation (NYSE: GE) that is a leading producer of jet engines for commercial and military aircraft. The corporate office campus will include two, four-story "L"-shaped buildings, into which GE Aviation will consolidate approximately 1,400 office personnel, including more than 1,000 engineers, from three other facilities in the Cincinnati area.

The new office buildings will be located just east of I-75 at Union Centre Boulevard and a few miles north of I-275. The 43-acre site will accommodate the two planned buildings, each of which are 201,900 square feet, and provide GE Aviation the ability to expand in the future. The former home of the Queen City Sports Complex, the site is well-suited for a corporate campus and has the added advantage of being in close proximity to GE's manufacturing facility on I-75.

"We are pleased that we are able to meet GE Aviation's needs in terms of quality space, accessibility, and growth opportunities," said Denny Oklak, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Duke. "GE and Duke have a proven track record of working together on other developments in North America, with GE accounting for more than one million square feet of leased space in Duke properties in multiple states."

Jon Burger, Senior Vice President of Duke Realty Corporation's Cincinnati operations, added, "The cooperation we received from West Chester Township was instrumental in enabling us to complete this transaction."

Construction on the two buildings is expected to begin this fall, with completion slated for the third quarter of 2009. Duke also is currently completing construction of a 300,000-square foot manufacturing facility for GE Aviation in Batesville, Mississippi.

About Duke Realty Corporation

Duke Realty Corporation specializes in the ownership, construction, development, leasing, and management of office, industrial, and health care real estate. It is the largest publicly traded, vertically integrated office/industrial real estate company in the United States. The company owns, manages, or has under development more than 143 million rentable square feet in 24 major U.S. cities. Duke, which controls more than 7,400 acres of land for more than 110 million square feet of future development, also provides nationwide real estate solutions through its national development division. Duke Realty Corporation is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol DRE and is listed on the S&P MidCap 400 Index. More information about Duke is available on the Internet: www.dukerealty.com.