On September 7th CSM broke ground on the first phase of its Lexington Preserve Business Park in Blaine, Minnesota. The facility is a 126,000 square foot state of the art distribution facility for Aveda Corporation, a subsidiary of The Estee Lauder Companies. The building features ceiling clear heights of 36 feet, a 12,000 square feet of flammable storage area, 19 loading docks and 11,000 square feet of office space. The project was designed to accommodate Aveda’s philosophy of environmental sustainability. This includes an environmentally friendly roof, carpet and floor tile made from recycled materials, wood products certified not to have come from old growth forests, energy efficient lighting and HVAC systems and many more considerations. Aveda will lease the facility from CSM for 15 years with options to extend. CSM is planning to build more than 850,000 square feet at Lexington Preserve over the next 5 to 7 years.