Boyle to Develop New Headquarters for Helena Chemical

– The Shelby Sun Times/ June 8, 2000 –

Boyle Investment Company announced today the development of a new office headquarters facility for Helena Chemical company at Schilling Farms in Collierville. Helena is a nationwide distributor of agricultural inputs and services.

The four-story, 104,000 square-foot “Class A” office building will be located on a 6.2 acre site near the center of the 443 acre Schilling Farms development, which will eventually offer more than one million square feet of office space. Site work should begin in June, and offer more than one million square feet of office space. Site work should begin in June and initial occupancy is anticipated for August 2001. With the development of this new office building, Schilling Farms is well on its way to becoming the major corporate office center for Collierville.

“Helena will occupy 80 percent of the building, and the remainder of the building’s space is available for lease.” says Mark Halperin, senior vice president of office properties for Boyle. “Helena has committed to a 15-year lease.”

“Helena is looking forward to relocating its headquarters to Schilling Farms,” relates Mike McCarty, President and CEO of Helena. “With Shelby County businesses and residential areas expanding to the east, we feel this is a pro-active move that will serve the long-term interests of Helena and its employees. The business/residential concept of Schilling Farms in a park-like setting is unique, and we believe it will be a positive environment in which to conduct business.”

“Helena’s decision to move to Schilling Farms was made easier because of the first-class treatment and cooperation we received from the city of Collierville, as well as the hard work of Commercial Tennessee, Inc. and Boyle Investment Company,” says McCarty.

A number of factors entered into Helena’s decision to locate at Schilling Farms. “Chief among them was the fact that Schilling Farms is such a well-planned, well thought-out development,” says Wyatt Aiken of Commercial Tennessee, Inc. who represented Helena in their search for a new headquarters. “Another determining factor was Boyle’s expertise and experience in development Class A office properties.”

“The new corporate office building has been carefully designed to fit into the architectural guidelines of Schilling Farms that reflect the architectural heritage of west Tennessee.” says Russell E. Bloodworth, executive vice president for Boyle. “Yet the building is also state-of-the-art and will thus provide the highest quality corporate environment for Helena’s employees.”

The building’s floor plan is similar to that of the new Morgan Keegan Building that Boyle is developing in Ridgeway Center in East Memphis. Designed by architectural firm Hnedak Bobo, the four-story building will be constructed of brick, pre-cast concrete and high-performance reflective glass. The building will be fully wired to meet all of the new technical requirements for high speed communication. The design of Helena’s interior space is being handled by Looney Ricks Kiss.

Almost 40 percent of the site is devoted to open space, and the building’s ambiance will be enhanced by the planting of more than 350 trees. The building is located at the mid-point of Schilling Boulevard, which has a specially designed pedestrian system flanked by two rows of red oaks and a double row of yoshino cherry trees in the median.

The new corporate office building’s location in the center of Schilling Farms makes it convenient for employees to utilize the Schilling Farms YMCA and day care center right down the street. Out-of-town business clients can take advantage of the new Spring Hill Suites by Marriott right around the corner. In addition, employees can shorten their commute to the office by living in one of many residential neighborhoods at Schilling Farms. Other amenities for office workers at Schilling Farms include physicians’ offices, restaurants, banks and eventually retail shops.

By the time Helena occupies the new corporate headquarters building, the company expects to have 208 employees at Schilling Farms and projects to have 250 employees by 2004. Helena has over 2,000 employees nationwide at over 200 sales locations and administrative offices.

Construction of the building is being handled by Mid-America Construction Company and Fisher & Arnold provided the landscape design.