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WEB EXCLUSIVE
Bayer Sells 1 Million-Square-Foot Building for $1

Bayer HealthCare LLC, a member of the worldwide Bayer Group, announced on October 8, 2003 that Feed The Children, one of America's fastest growing charitable organizations, will buy approximately one million square feet of laboratory, manufacturing, office, and warehouse space in Elkhart, IN for $1. The announcement culminates a year-long global marketing initiative, known as "Develop Northern Indiana," to support the Elkhart, area's ongoing economic development efforts while selling office and manufacturing space that would otherwise be torn down.

Feed the Children expects to create jobs in the community as it expands operations in Building 1 of the complex. In the short term, the organization will move its international headquarters to Elkhart and use the building's warehouse space as a Midwest distribution facility. Eventually, the organization plans to use existing laboratory facilities to establish a research and development center focused on meeting the nutritional needs of children worldwide.

"We're thrilled to welcome Feed the Children to our Elkhart community," says Joe Martin, senior vice president and general manager, Bayer Diagnostics. "Feed the Children's acquisition of the space brings another world-class organization to the Elkhart area and builds for the community's future with the promise of a major nutrition-focused R&D center. This is a true demonstration of what can be accomplished when business and the community work together."

Feed the Children was one of several organizations Bayer considered. Hundreds of groups expressed interest in the Elkhart property through the special Develop Northern Indiana Web site created to market the building. Martin says Feed the Children offered the best combination of opportunities for Elkhart.

"We were tremendously impressed with Feed the Children's proposal for a number of reasons, particularly the organization's plans to create new jobs in Northern Indiana," says Martin. "And the organization's history of consistent growth over the past 24 years gave us comfort that it will deliver on its promises."

Feed the Children has taken immediate possession of the Elkhart space and began using the warehouse facilities almost immediately.

"Feed the Children's presence in Elkhart will provide Northern Indiana with tangible economic benefits that will have a ripple effect throughout the local economy," says Larry Jones who, with his wife Frances, founded Feed the Children following a 1979 trip to Haiti. "We will not only utilize local vendors and suppliers to support our ongoing operations, we will also create numerous and diverse job opportunities for residents as we get under way in Elkhart and as long-term collaborative efforts with alliance partners unfold."

The property sale is part of a Bayer reorganization of its Northern Indiana facilities. Last year, Bayer promised it would market the property to companies worldwide, and Bayer underwrote the cost of a global marketing effort to attract a new employer to Elkhart.

Grubb & Ellis/Cressy & Everett, one of the nation's leading commercial real estate brokers, handled the transaction, which has an estimated value of $12 million. Grubb & Ellis/Cressy & Everett worked with local, state and regional economic development officials to promote the property.

As part of its Develop Northern Indiana investments, Bayer Diagnostics recently completed a $33 million expansion of its manufacturing operations in nearby Mishawaka, IN. This expansion significantly increased the plant's production output to help make the Northern Indiana plant a Bayer "center of excellence" for high-volume, high technology manufacturing. The company recently gave $500,000 to the Economic Development Corporation of Elkhart County, which works to expand existing businesses and attract new companies to the area.