Member Highlight: Prologis 2018
As the largest industrial real estate company in the world, Prologis is laser focused on locating buildings where the action is today and into the future. It’s telling — and lucky for the company’s Denver employees — that the Denver office of Prologis recently spoke to this point by moving from the outskirts of the city into the heart of Denver’s historic Dairy Block in Downtown Denver — an emerging micro-district that is unifying arts, restaurants and office space.
“The move, was made in part to encourage employees to have more communication not only with one another, but with the community they serve,” said Wayne Barrett, Vice President and Market Officer with the company.
“It was important to the leaders of our company that we create an atmosphere that fosters communication,” he said. “Being in an area like LoDo is more conducive to an enhanced relationship with the city, and it’s a way for us to keep employees happy and engaged.”
It was also a way for the company to pay homage to the history of the city, a goal that was important as part of the company’s commitment to the community, Barrett said. “Business is constantly changing, and it’s great to celebrate the history of Downtown Denver and also preserve that history by inhabiting this historic place.”
In an effort to marry the company’s core business with the creative vibe of the neighborhood, Prologis partnered with Gensler Architects (a 2018 CBCA Business for the Arts Awards Honoree) to develop a unique, collaborative space. “We tried to use materials that relate to our business in unique ways throughout the interior of the office, like container doors, roof materials and the like, as a way to celebrate what we do in an artistic sense,” Barrett said.
Prologis has made a significant commitment to the communities it works in including donating more than $2 million to local nonprofits. In Denver, their support of CBCA originated with the nonprofit’s former On My Own Time program, which allowed Prologis employees to showcase their own artistic endeavors at an annual art show. And Barrett, who is also a CBCA board member, highlights that many of the organization’s employees also regularly attend CBCA’s monthly Night At… cultural events.
“Being in the business world for the last 30 years, I’ve seen how art affects economy,” Barrett said. “Being involved with CBCA is a nice way to do something outside the box, it gives me and our employees a nice outlet to doing something different. Prologis really wants to embrace CBCA and the arts because they are an outlet for employees to get out of the office and do creative things.”
CBCA is proud to partner with Prologis as a Patron member.