Duke Realty

Duke Realty is a real estate investment trust that owns, manages, and develops bulk distribution buildings. Duke Realty Corporation (Duke) is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). 

The Company operates in three segments, the first two of which consist of the ownership and rental of office and industrial real estate investments. The operations of its office and industrial properties, along with its medical office and retail properties, are collectively referred to as Rental Operations. The third reportable segment consists of providing various real estate services, such as property management, asset management, maintenance, leasing, development and construction management to third-party property owners and joint ventures, and is collectively referred to as Service Operations. 

The Company also owns, including through ownership interests in unconsolidated joint ventures, more than 4,800 acres of land and controls an additional 1,630 acres through purchase options.

1972: Duke Realty launched its business with the development of an industrial building in Indianapolis, IN. Since that time, we’ve grown dramatically and are now the leading pure-play, domestic-only industrial REIT in the country. Duke Realty was founded by John Rosebrough, Phil Duke, and John Wynne.

1978: Once the business was well established in its hometown, Duke expanded into its second market, Cincinnati. Chief Financial Officer Gene Zink told the press, "It is not our plan to gobble up properties." Serving as Duke's president and CEO was Thomas L. Hefner, who had been a managing general partner at Duke Associates and had recently served as the firm's chief operating officer.

1985: Formation of a REIT Duke decided to package a number of its properties in a real estate investment trust. The timing, however, was less than fortuitous due to a number of Texas developers entering the area simultaneously, a situation that led to the area becoming overbuilt. It began testing the third market when it built an office building in Nashville, Tennessee.

1986: Not until the Tax Reform Act of 1986 changed the nature of real estate investment did the REIT gain widespread usage. Phillip Duke and Rosebrough sold their interests in the five operating companies of P.R. Duke & Associates to a partnership headed by one of the original founders, John Wynne, along with four second-level managers.

1995: The company established a regional office in St Louis and acquired 463,000 square feet of office properties as well as 153 acres of suburban land for the future development of industrial properties.

1997: Duke continued to expand into new markets.

1999: Duke and Weeks agreed to a $1.1 billion stock swap, creating a company with a market value of close to $5.4 billion. In 1999, it merged with Weeks Corporation, another real estate investment trust with properties primarily in the US Southwest.

2006: It bought 32 buildings in the Washington, D.C. area from the Mark Winkler Company.

To ensure sustainable and responsible impact on our world—and in the communities we serve—we develop to the highest, longest-lasting standard. And we maintain strong relationships with our clients throughout their lease terms and beyond.

To continually set the standard for excellence in reliability.