Technicolor expands, will add 150 jobs
Leading third-party distributor adds 1.36 million square feet
Memphis Business Journal - by Andy Ashby
LEE SWETS | MBJ
Technicolor SA, formerly known as Thomson Multimedia, is expanding its Memphis operations by 1.36 million square feet at Summit Distribution Center and plans to create 150 new jobs. This leasing activity continues Memphis’ march toward new industrial development and solidifies the Paris-based company’s claim as one of the largest third-party logistics operators in Memphis. Technicolor is leasing 580,131 square feet at Summit I at 5155 Lamar and all 789,291 square feet at Summit II at 5215 Lamar. Technicolor officials were not available for comment.
Wyatt Aiken, executive vice president of Commercial Advisors LLC, has been representing Technicolor locally. He could not comment on Technicolor operations inside these properties. “From a real estate perspective, these two leases by Technicolor are giving a huge boost to the local industrial market,” Aiken says. As of November 2009, Technicolor’s local footprint was 3.43 million square feet, with a leases at 4155 Holmes, 4010 Holmes and 4926 Southridge, according to Memphis Business Journal research. The Summit leases will bring its presence to 4.79 million square feet in Memphis.
In February, Technicolor entered into a long-term contract with Warner Bros. to replicate and distribute its DVD and Blu-ray discs. Cinram International Inc. formerly handled those operations for Warner Bros. out of Nashville. The company approached the Memphis and Shelby County Industrial Development Board in February, seeking to amend its existing 15-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes incentive, started in 2002, to include potential new warehouse space and personal property. The board approved these amendments for three potential properties: 5155 Lamar, 5215 Lamar and 5200 Tradeport.
The project could create 150 jobs with a median wage of $25,000, according to IDB documents. “The business-friendly attitude we’ve seen at the (Memphis and Shelby County) Industrial Development Board went a long way to making this happen,” Aiken says. “Two years ago, companies like Technicolor were wary of expanding in Memphis because of the signals local government was sending.”
B&B Specialty Contractors Inc. has already pulled permits to do $3 million in tenant improvements to 5215 Lamar. Tommy Jackson, vice president at CB Richard Ellis Memphis, represented the landlord, Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, in the leasing of Summit I. The building still has 128,401 square feet vacant after the Technicolor lease. “I think we’ll have enough activity in the market to get that leased in short order,” Jackson says.
Commercial Alliance Management LLC senior vice president Mark Jenkins and senior leasing associate Phil Dagastino represented the landlord, USAA, in the leasing at Summit II. “It’s a huge deal for both our owners as well as Memphis,” Jenkins says. “It’s not taking business from across town or across the street — it’s new business and jobs for our city and our market.” Hewlett-Packard Co. had occupied both Summit I and II until vacating in mid-2009. Technicolor did sign a 500,000-square-foot lease at Summit I for six months.