HISTORY
Since its founding in 1972 in Indianapolis, Indiana, Duke Realty Corporation has been a leader in commercial real estate development. From its first property—Building One in Park 100 Business Park on the northwest side of Indianapolis—Duke has set the standard for providing high-quality, innovative, and distinctive environments that meet businesses’ operating needs.
Capitalizing on its success in Indianapolis with industrial property development, Duke began to expand both geographically and by product type in the late 1970s. Cincinnati, Ohio was the first market outside of its headquarters city that Duke entered. In addition to opening its first satellite office, Duke expanded its development portfolio to include office and retail properties.
Throughout the next decade, Duke’s industrial, office, and retail developments grew. Offices were opened in Nashville, Tennessee, and Columbus, Ohio, with Duke becoming one of the largest developers and property owners in each of these markets.
In October 1993, Duke issued an Initial Public Offering (IPO) that generated more than $310 million and became a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE symbol: DRE). At the time of the IPO, Duke had a 10 million-square foot portfolio.
Following its transition to a public company, Duke continued its geographic expansion to include the Midwestern cities of Cleveland, Ohio; St. Louis, Missouri; Chicago, Illinois; and Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. Duke’s merger with the Weeks Corporation in 1999 broadened its geographic presence to include six southeastern cities: Atlanta, Georgia; Dallas, Texas; Raleigh, North Carolina; and the Florida cities of Orlando, Tampa, and Ft. Lauderdale. At year end 2000, Duke’s property portfolio exceeded 100 million square feet.
Duke embarked on additional growth in 2006, expanding its boundaries to include Washington, D.C.; Baltimore, Maryland; Houston, Texas; and Phoenix, Arizona. In keeping with its strategy of seeking development opportunities near major seaports, in 2007, Duke expanded operations by developing or acquiring additional properties in Savannah, Georgia; Baltimore, Maryland; Linden, New Jersey; and Norfolk, Virginia.
In 2007, Duke also expanded its product offering to include healthcare properties. BremnerDuke Healthcare Real Estate, the outgrowth of a merger between Duke and Bremner Healthcare, is focused on the planning, development, ownership, and management of medical facilities, ranging from small medical office buildings, to facilities with diagnostics, oncology centers, or surgery centers, to complete in-patient hospitals.
Duke also has a proven track record in providing built-to-suit development services in cities outside of markets where we have offices. Duke has an excellent reputation for partnering with some of the largest, most recognized companies in the world to develop built-to-suit properties that meet their exact specifications.
For more than 35 years, we have developed premier buildings across the country. Our expertise, financial strength, and commitment to quality have cemented our reputation and helped position us as one of the largest publicly traded office and industrial property developers in the United States.