1) To coordinate and facilitate communication with the cities of Urbandale, West Des Moines, Des Moines, Ankeny and any other municipalities or state organizations as requested by Wells Fargo.

2) To assist in strategic planning regarding the metropolitan Des Moines project, including land acquisition strategies, municipal strategies, developer strategies and infrastructure development (utilities, roads, interchanges).

3) To assist in the development of the analysis and compilation of supporting documentation to be presented as part of the business case to executive management.

4) To implement strategies as directed by Wells Fargo. To assist in the development of the overall communication strategies.

The ultimate property acquired was a 176-acre tract of ground located in West Des Moines, Iowa. This site was selected because of its' unique ability to access three (3) Interstate interchanges, accommodating the significant traffic requirements of the project. Adding approximately $38 million to the City of West Des Moines' current street infrastructure was necessary to access the third Interstate interchange and was a Wells Fargo Home Mortgage condition to the transaction.

PROPERTY DESCRIPTION:
The ultimate property acquired was a 176-acre tract of ground located in West Des Moines, Iowa. This site was selected because of its' unique ability to access three (3) Interstate interchanges, accommodating the significant traffic requirements of the project. Adding approximately $38 million to the City of West Des Moines' current street infrastructure was necessary to access the third Interstate interchange and was a Wells Fargo Home Mortgage condition to the transaction.

PROCESS:
The Siedenburg Group (TSG) initiated confidential contact with each of the subject cities to do a broad-based search for a real estate location and discuss economic incentives. At the same time, we recommended that the company consider state incentives as well.

The current administration, under Governor Tom Vilsack, had a broad economic development initiative that was beginning to take shape at the state known as the “Grow Iowa Values Fund”. The Grow Iowa Values Fund anticipated raising $500,000,000 to be strategically granted to businesses representing significant growth potential within the State of Iowa. We recommended that proper positioning was necessary and an early appointment was arranged.

A three-fold strategy was in developed:

A) A preliminary list of ten (10) corporate site alternatives.
B) Develop the economic incentive structure that included state and city incentives.
C) Continued negotiation with a local broker on one of the primary sites, located in Urbandale, Iowa.

The project appeared to be constructible in a minimum of two (2) phases. The initial phase would be from 350,000 – 650,000 square feet to accommodate the existing staff. The second phase would be new jobs of potentially 1,000 – 2,000 positions. These jobs would have salaries of $30,000 - $40,000 per year. Other states would be considered for the second phase of development at that time.

It became apparent that the major issue driving site location was traffic and accessibility. The projected traffic generated from this project was significant - initially anticipating 4,000 cars daily. Additionally, the goal was to grow at this site, eventually anticipating as many as 10,000 employees. This single criteria eliminated seven (7) of the alternative sites and narrowed the search to Urbandale, Iowa, West Des Moines, Iowa, and Ankeny, Iowa.

Simultaneous with the development of the site analysis, the programming process was occurring with Wells Fargo and the architect, SVPA & Associates, West Des Moines, Iowa. TSG, at this point, was an important part of the development team and participated in 90% of the early programming discussions.

The programming process had increased the number of initial full-time employees in the project to 5,000. A site began emerging in West Des Moines, Iowa that consisted of approximately 176 acres located immediately south of the new General Growth shopping mall known as Jordan Creek Town Centre. This property had excellent access to two (2) interstate interchanges and a third interstate interchange could conceivably be achieved to the south. The city of West Des Moines, however, did not feel they could afford an expansion of the current street system, having just completed a $60 million expansion for the mall.

WFHM became focused on the West Des Moines site and a transaction structure was taking shape. Mr. Siedenburg and the Wells Fargo team successfully negotiated a development agreement that provided for WFHM to guarantee a minimum tax base of $118,000,000 for the project, thus creating a tax income stream adequate to finance the bonds necessary for approximately $38,000,000 worth of street and utility infrastructure. West Des Moines was at its financing limit due to the bonds it had recently sold to finance Jordan Creek Town Centre infrastructure and could not increase its debt without risking its credit standing. The creative structure of the WFHM project enabled the city to finance the additional bonds and maintain its credit rating with the bonding agencies.

The project was publicly announced in October of 2003 while behind the scenes negotiations continued. The land purchases (two separate owners) were not completed until early 2004.

CONCLUSIONS:
Multiple conclusions were arrived at during the term of this project. On-going consulting advice was given and the client made decisions regarding site selection, economic incentives, communication - both internal and public, strategy of negotiating with the City of West Des Moines and with the sellers of the real estate. All involved counseling recommendations to the client.

RESULTS:
Wells Fargo is currently constructing 960,000 square feet of office space and will relocate 3,300 initial jobs to the site and create over 1,000 new jobs. Total economic impact to the State of Iowa is estimated at $627,000,000 over 10 years – not including spin-off multiplier effects. Wells Fargo, including Wells Fargo Financial in downtown Des Moines, will create over 2,000 total new jobs over the next four years.

• Retention of 3,300 jobs in metropolitan Des Moines, Iowa.
• Immediate creation of 1,000 new jobs, 2,000 over the initial 4-year period.
• First economic development grant from the State’s new Grow Iowa Values Fund.
• An increase of $118,000,000 in West Des Moines’ tax base.
• Significant infrastructure expansion in West Des Moines, Iowa, enabling a $35,000,000 transportation infrastructure expansion thereby opening over 500 acres to new development.
• The site will accommodate significant expansion for Wells Fargo over the next 20 years. Phase I of the project uses approximately 90 acres on a 176-acre campus.
• The largest economic development transaction in the history of Iowa

TIME/RESOURCES/VALUE:
Wells Fargo retained The Siedenburg Group on an hourly basis initially, and later, when The Siedenburg Group became involved in the site acquisition, an add value component was added to the consulting arrangement.

ASSIGNMENT COMPLETED:
January 2004

OTHER COMMENTS:
The Siedenburg Group was one part of a broad, highly experienced team of real estate individuals including senior management at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, architects, engineers, economic development officials with the State of Iowa and the City of West Des Moines' leadership. All parties significantly contributed to meeting Wells Fargo Home Mortgage's corporate goals in West Des Moines, Iowa.

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