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C O R P O R A T E P R A C T I C E
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the first Corporate Practice Area report for FGM. As you all know, the creation of a
Corporate Practice Area was one of our three strategic initiatives that came out of our 2015
Strategic Planning effort. At the time, we were embarking on two major corporate efforts – the
ALDI Corporate Headquarters Expansion Master Planning and the Janney Technical Center, a
new laboratory building for Wiss Janney Elstner (WJE). Both were previous clients of FGM and,
based on these relationships, we were retained to be involved in these two new endeavors.
Between Aldi, WJE and relationships with a handful of other clients, a corporate practice was a
logical progression. These relationships and projects created a solid foundation on which to build.
For the past two years, in addition to working with Aldi and WJE, we have also worked with KJWW
Engineering (one of our MEP partners), Baxter and Woodman (a civil engineering firm), Alpha
Kappa Alpha (the corporate headquarters of a national sorority) and Motomart, a longtime client
of FGM.
PROJECT UPDATES
ALDI
FGM began working again with Aldi in 2015 on a two year/two phase master planning effort to
expand their corporate campus. ALDI is growing as a corporation by offering more products and
expanding their retail operations on the west coast. Aldi’s projections to almost double the
number of employees located at their Batavia campus required a major planning effort to support
the company’s growth.
ALDI NATIONAL IT (NIT) – AURORA OFFICE RENOVATION
Overcrowding at the main Aldi campus was the driver for this unforeseen project. Amid the initial
master planning effort, strategies were discussed to provide additional temporary space until new
space could be constructed. While a few rental spaces were considered, Aldi ultimately chose to
purchase an 80,000 sf spec office building to relocate their entire 200 person National IT
department. Initially planned as a minimal and temporary solution, the project became a total
building overhaul with a $13M budget. New office concepts proposed in the master plan were
implemented to test new standards and brand image for the NIT department and future Aldi
offices.