FOR RELEASE:  Friday, January 10, 2003

Campus Partners selects Jones Lang LaSalle as development manager for Gateway project

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Campus Partners announced today the selection of Jones Lang LaSalle as the development manager for the University Gateway Center, a 500,000-square-foot, mixed-use, urban redevelopment project adjacent to the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.  As development manager, Jones Lang LaSalle is responsible for continuing management of the design, construction and leasing of the Gateway Center and for advising Campus Partners on key development decisions.

Terry D. Foegler, president of Campus Partners, said that Jones Lang LaSalle brings to the project broad experience in building and managing complex, urban projects.  “We are impressed with the firm’s success in meeting the special issues and challenges of urban mixed-use redevelopment projects, particularly the retail components of these projects as demonstrated by its redevelopment of Union Station in Washington, D.C., and Grand Central Terminal in New York City,” he said.

Foegler also cited Jones Lang LaSalle’s extensive experience in providing development management services to universities and other institutions, such as the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, to assist them in undertaking complex urban redevelopment and community revitalization projects.

With its world-wide experience in real estate, large and diverse number of development management projects, and significant local development presence through its acquisition of the Columbus-based Galbreath Company, Jones Lang LaSalle has the perspective and the specialized staff to effectively manage the Gateway Center development and provide critical advice on any issue that may arise, Foegler added.

"The Gateway Center is one of the nation's most exciting urban redevelopment initiatives and we are extremely pleased to have been chosen for this challenging project," said Herman Bulls, managing director for Jones Lang LaSalle.   "We are honored to partner with a group like Campus Partners which is dedicated to improving the quality of life for the university's population, as well as the surrounding community."  Bulls, based in Washington, D.C., oversees Jones Lang LaSalle's partnerships with universities.

Ken Markgraf, managing director for Jones Lang LaSalle and based in Chicago, oversees development management services.   “Our expertise with retail-oriented, mixed-use developments, particularly in university environments such as Technology Square at Georgia Institute of Technology, will help Campus Partners and other University District stakeholders to successfully restore High Street as a hub of activity, entertainment and commerce,” he said.

The vision for the Gateway Center, which emerged from an  extensive community-based planning effort and a national development/design competition in 1999, reinforces the “Main Street” character of High Street and represents a dynamic and diverse blend of shops, restaurants, entertainment, offices and rental housing, plus a parking facility with 900 to 1,200 spaces.  The Gateway Center will include unique, locally owned businesses, as well as national and regional retailers and service providers, targeted to a diverse, college town market.

“We expect the Gateway Center will improve the economic vitality of High Street, provide the community with much-needed goods and services, promote neighborhood revitalization and create new employment opportunities for area residents,” Foegler said.

To assemble the Gateway site, Campus Partners over a three-year period negotiated the purchase of 31 parcels of land totaling 7.4 acres in the area of 11^th Avenue and High Street and worked with business owners to assist or relocate 25 businesses.   Property acquisition was completed in mid-2002.  The remaining buildings on the site were demolished by mid-summer.

Columbus City Council last fall approved funding from the city’s capital improvements bond sale for the design and construction of the public improvements on the Gateway site.  Bidding on these public improvements, such as utility and roadway work, is expected to take place later this month or early February with construction likely to begin in March and to be completed by mid-summer.

Although Jones Lang LaSalle has yet to finalize the project development schedule, the actual construction of the project’s buildings should begin later in 2003.  The Gateway Center is projected to open in August 2005.

Jones Lang LaSalle began work on the Gateway project on September 3 and expects to complete a thorough review and refinement of all key project elements this month.  The firm also has helped move the public improvements forward and is managing the selection processes for a construction manager for the public improvements, construction manager for the Gateway Center itself, and other members of the development team.

Campus Partners chose Jones Lang LaSalle after issuing a request for proposals last July to a number of firms that provide development management services on a fee basis.  In interviewing five firms last August, Campus Partners focused on two critical factors: 1) each firm’s depth of relevant development experience on similar types of large-scale, urban, mixed-use development projects; and 2) the breadth of experience that each firm demonstrated in providing development management services on a fee basis for similar types of clients.

Once these core qualifications-based criteria were met, Campus Partners then placed a high priority on each firm’s commitment to, and experience in, maximizing involvement of women- and minority-owned businesses.

“We felt that Jones Lang LaSalle met the experience test on all criteria,” Foegler said.  “We were especially impressed by the diversity represented on the Jones Lang LaSalle management team and by the firm’s experience and track record in helping its projects to achieve high levels of participation by women-owned, minority-owned and other disadvantaged businesses.”

Campus Partners announced Jones Lang LaSalle’s selection as development manager once negotiations were concluded on a development management services agreement.

Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE: JLL), with headquarters in Chicago, is the world's leading real estate services and investment management firm, operating across more than 100 markets on five continents.  The firm has provided development management services for more than 18 million square feet of private and public sector projects developed in Columbus, including the new heart hospital being constructed at The Ohio State University.

Ohio State created Campus Partners for Community Urban Redevelopment in 1995 to spearhead the revitalization of the urban neighborhoods around its Columbus campus.  Campus Partners was incorporated as a non-profit organization to work with the city, community agencies, neighborhood leaders and the university itself.

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