Shire seeking new digs for headquarters

by Natalie Kostelni

"Shire plc is considering relocating its North American headquarters out of the Chesterbrook Corporate Center here and possibly moving to New Jersey or Delaware.

The company occupies more than 450,000 square feet of office space in four buildings and employs roughly 1,100 people in the properties.

“While the Chesterbrook space has been very good for Shire as we have grown locally, nationally and globally over the past seven years, it is appropriate for us as we consider renewing our lease options here to review other possible real estate alternatives that may also meet our growing business needs,” said Matt Cabrey, spokesman for the company, in an email.

The company is serious about looking at alternatives, Cabrey said, and not just an exercise to build a case for a potential incentive package from Pennsylvania, New Jersey or Delaware.
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Shire first signed a lease for 725 Chesterbrook Blvd., a 128,000-square-foot building in the Chesterbrook, in March 2004. That space once served as the U.S. headquarters of another pharmaceutical giant, Astra, which stunned Pennsylvania officials and moved to Delaware following its merger with Zeneca. On the bright side, the Astra move opened up enough space to allow the Dublin, Ireland-based Shire to consolidate 11 North American sites into one.

Within six months of that initial lease, Shire realized it was growing so rapidly that additional space was needed. It was then the company leased 735 Chesterbrook Blvd., an 81,000-square-foot building.

A walkway was constructed connecting the two buildings. It also occupies 115,000 square feet of 1400 Liberty Ridge, where it signed a 10-year lease in 2007, and all of 1200 Morris Drive, a three-story, 114,000-square-foot building. That lease runs until 2017.

When Shire first consolidated in Chesterbrook seven years ago it received a $3.45 million financial incentive package from Pennsylvania as part of a commitment to create 400 new full-time jobs over three years. Shire exceeded that by 188 new jobs. The company received another $2.07 million in state subsidies to create 390 jobs in 2007. http://www.omegare.com/
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Full article: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/print-edition/2011/09/02/shire-seeking-new-digs-for-headquarters.html?s=print