Prior to moving into is new corporate campus in early 2003, Best Buy operated out of 17 different office buildings in the Twin Cities metro area. Besides the obvious efficiencies associated with having all corporate employees at one primary location, the Company recognized that a common corporate campus would encourage interaction and cooperation at every level. Additionally, the new campus would support the company’s ambition to open 60+ new stores a year while maintaining a long-term goal of increasing market share.

Della Kolpin was hand-picked as Best Buy’s project director for the new headquarters development, sited on a 40-acre parcel in the first ring suburb of Richfield, Minnesota. Her role on the project began before final site selection and continued until the last move-in was completed. The project was a 1.6 M square foot corporate campus development, connecting business vision and strategy with the workplace design to support and enhance the company culture.

Notable Achievements:

• Orchestrated benchmarking, corporate collaboration, technology interface, change management and communication strategy for engagement and transformation across the organization.
• The site assemblage, headed by Opus, included 68 single family homes, three apartment buildings, two car dealership and 10 other business to be vacated.
• Construction completion within expedited 18-month time frame at cost of $62 per square foot (core & shell) when market was $ 150+/-. Overall project was $16M under total estimated costs.
• Managed relocation program encompassing 5,300 employees from 14 different locations over 100-day period.
• Recognized with multiple awards for Corporate Campus Project, including 2003 Best Buy Retail Partner of the Year Award and Best in Real Estate City Business Award and Honored with 2004 National Design-Build Merit Award.

Architectural Firms: Opus AE Group & Perkins + Will
Construction Team: Opus Design Build
Project Completion Date: May 2003