The Star-Tribune has good story this morning on page three of their Business Section on an Eden Prairie company that is near and dear to us here at City Center: C.H. Robinson Worldwide.
C.H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW) is one of the largest third-party logistics companies in North America. They got their start as a fresh produce shipping company in 1905. They move products all over the world by truck, rail, ships, and airplanes. While they still are well known in the food shipping business, they are also developing other specialties in the field of business logistics.
C.H. Robinson Worldwide is near and dear to us for two reasons. They are “near” to us because their corporate headquarters are located right here in Eden Prairie City Center. They are right down the hall from us. We share parking lots, lunch rooms, and a loading dock.
C.H. Robinson is “dear” to us because they have a significant positive financial impact on our city operations. They are a solid employer and taxpayer in Eden Prairie. It might surprise some to know that even though CHRW is located in a publicly-owned building, they still must pay real estate taxes based on the market value of the square footage that they occupy.
But the more financially important link we have with CHRW is their lease for the City Center office space. CHRW pays the City, in rent and common area maintenance charges (utilities, custodial, etc.), over $1,000,000 per year to do business out of their City Center office space. This is important to the City because it goes towards paying off the bonds that the City issued to purchase this building in the 1990’s and towards the cleaning and maintenance of the building into the future.
The City’s relationship with CHRW is an especially good deal for Eden Prairie taxpayers. Without the rental income the City receives from CHRW, the City would have to tax our property taxpayers to pay off the bonds issued to purchase this building. Because CHRW is a reliable City Center tenant, the citizens of Eden Prairie have a very fine City Hall without the tax burden that usually goes with such a public investment.
The Star-Tribune story talks about recent acquisitions that CHRW has made of trucking/shipping companies on the west coast. I’m glad to see that CHRW is growing their business. They are an important part of the business economy here in Eden Prairie. We at City Center wish them well.
