Pizzuti Cos. was able to keep two long-term industrial clients in the fold for a pair of large construction projects and an office complex despite growing competition among developers in the slumped real estate market.

The Columbus-based developer has started construction on a 700,000-square-foot warehouse in Marion for Whirlpool Corp., as well as an office complex in the appliance manufacturer’s hometown of Benton Harbor, Mich.

Closer to home, Pizzuti has been hired to build a 417,000-square-foot center at the New Albany Business Park for contract packager Accel Inc.
The Whirlpool projects will bring to 11 the number of facilities Pizzuti has built for the producer. Accel will be moving up from a Pizzuti-built headquarters covering 305,000 square feet off East Orange Road in Lewis Center.

Building trust

President Joel Pizzuti said the long-term client relationships proved key to securing the projects.

“Having a track record and being able to call upon that,” he said, “is of critical importance for us.”

Pizzuti first bid on a Whirlpool project in 1998, when the household appliances manufacturer wanted a distribution center in Dallas.

“We weren’t chosen,” Pizzuti said, “but we continued to pursue business with them and, by 2000, we had three projects with them.”

Pizzuti has completed 5.6 million square feet of industrial projects for Whirlpool. The portfolio includes a 1.6 million-square-foot distribution complex completed two years ago near Rickenbacker International Airport that consolidated other temporary space in the industrial market south of downtown Columbus.

Pizzuti this fall won the development and construction contract for three buildings in Benton Harbor where Whirlpool will consolidate some offices into a complex totaling 230,000 square feet. The contract also includes renovating Whirlpool office properties in the community along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan.

“We’re definitively competing for their business,” Pizzuti said. “We’re competing with more firms because more developers are pursuing the smaller number of (development) opportunities.”

Pizzuti said the Whirlpool projects could lead to other development work in the Michigan city’s urban arts district, both in conjunction with Whirlpool and apart from the company.
“We’re certainly staying close to them,” he said. “If there are any other opportunities, we’ll pursue it.”

Whirlpool executives did not respond to Columbus Business First inquiries.

Not automatic

David Abraham, Accel’s co-CEO, said he called Pizzuti soon after the company he owns with his wife, Tara, decided it needed to expand its Central Ohio packaging operations. Its building did not have surplus land to accommodate an expansion.

“I told Joel, ‘We’re going to be doing a new building and I want to sit down and talk about it,’ ” he said.

All the candidates had to agree to make the Abrahams financial partners in the $18 million real estate deal, he said. Accel did not automatically hand the contract to Pizzuti; Abraham said their relationship “was not the deciding factor,” although it played a role.

“They did a fantastic job for us,” he said. “We were pleased to be reminded how in tune they were to our needs 9½ years ago as they are today.”

Accel expects to move into its New Albany facility by July.