"The regional office of the Environmental Protection Agency has renewed its big lease at 1650 Arch St. in Center City for another five years.
The agency re-upped on 304,000 square feet on floors 1 through 14 and the 16th floor at the building. The EPA first moved to the building in 1997, when it initially signed on to a 10-year deal with two five-year renewal options.
The lease is the largest completed in Center City this year and keeps a major anchor tenant at 1650 Arch, which continues to suffer from the loss of Wolf Block.
“It was a win for both parties,” said the landlord, Berhinger Harvard. The General Services Administration represented the EPA.
Wolf Block, the defunct law firm, vacated 176,000 square feet last spring and though the space remains vacant, there are a lot of tenants looking at the space, McGowan said. A major renovation is set to begin this summer regardless of the vacancy, he said.
If a big-enough tenant lands in the building, which is likely, some of the work can be customized. In all, Behringer Harvard plans to complete a five-year, $7 million interior and exterior capital improvement program. The upgrades are aimed at repositioning the building as a top-tier office structure and making it more attractive to existing and prospective tenants.
The Class B building was constructed in 1973 and sits just on the outskirts of the prime Center City office district. The 27-story, 587,800-square-foot tower had once been the headquarters for Cigna Corp. The building took a hit in the 1990s when Cigna relocated to Two Liberty, where it has its offices, and was vacant until the EPA moved in 1997, taking a chunk of the space."
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Eastern University bought 19.4 acres from Valley Forge Military Academy
"Eastern University bought 19.4 acres from Valley Forge Military Academy & College for an undisclosed amount.
Both schools are adjacent to each other though Eastern is in St. Davids and the military academy in Wayne along the Main Line.
The parcel is bordered by Eagle Road, Radnor Street Road and Walnut Avenue, which is south of the military academy’s main 120-acre campus. It is currently used for parking and faculty and staff housing. As part of the deal, the two schools agreed to certain shared uses of other facilities that will allow the military academy staff living in housing on the parcel to remain in their homes.
Eastern, which has a 94-acre campus, is looking to expand its programs and facilities. In a statement, the school said that some projects under consideration include establishing an intensive, two-year arts college program for students with nonverbal learning disabilities such as Asperger syndrome. For Valley Forge, the school said the sale strengthens its financial position and bolsters its relationship with Eastern, which is something it anticipates furthering in the future."
Both schools are adjacent to each other though Eastern is in St. Davids and the military academy in Wayne along the Main Line.
The parcel is bordered by Eagle Road, Radnor Street Road and Walnut Avenue, which is south of the military academy’s main 120-acre campus. It is currently used for parking and faculty and staff housing. As part of the deal, the two schools agreed to certain shared uses of other facilities that will allow the military academy staff living in housing on the parcel to remain in their homes.
Eastern, which has a 94-acre campus, is looking to expand its programs and facilities. In a statement, the school said that some projects under consideration include establishing an intensive, two-year arts college program for students with nonverbal learning disabilities such as Asperger syndrome. For Valley Forge, the school said the sale strengthens its financial position and bolsters its relationship with Eastern, which is something it anticipates furthering in the future."
Benten Bioservices Inks $12M Lease in Malvern
"Benten Bioservices, a wholly owned subsidiary of Deltagen Inc., leased 35,000 square feet of lab space at 335 - 395 Phoenixville Pike in Malvern, PA. The clinical research organization signed a 10-year lease, valued at more than $12 million. Occupancy is slated for December.
The 104,400-square-foot R&D building was built in 1979 in the Chester Industrial submarket. It is part of the Great Valley Corporate Center.
Benten aims to create between 50 and 80 new jobs at the facility over the next 18 to 24 months. Benten received interest from several other landlords outside of the Delaware Valley area. However, BioMed Realty Trust, the landlord at the Great Valley Corporate Center, made an aggressive effort to acquire Benten."
The 104,400-square-foot R&D building was built in 1979 in the Chester Industrial submarket. It is part of the Great Valley Corporate Center.
Benten aims to create between 50 and 80 new jobs at the facility over the next 18 to 24 months. Benten received interest from several other landlords outside of the Delaware Valley area. However, BioMed Realty Trust, the landlord at the Great Valley Corporate Center, made an aggressive effort to acquire Benten."
Monday, May 24, 2010
Study will map out future development along Rt. 30
"The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission will wrap up late next month on the first phase of a two-year study of Lancaster Avenue stretching from its borders with Philadelphia at 52nd Street in West Philadelphia out to Wayne.
The effort marks the first time the regional planning commission has examined this 11-mile swath, which covers three counties and five municipalities. The first phase was launched last July and a second phase will begin this coming July.
“This is a first and it has a lot of challenges, some of them because it is a very built-out corridor,” said David Anderson, manager of corridor planning at DVRPC. “There’s not a lot of room for expansion and it’s very historic.”
As a result, expanding Lancaster Avenue will be unlikely.
Once the second phase is complete, and after several anticipated drafts, the regional planning commission has until June 2011 to offer a series of conclusions, recommendations, priorities and plans that could reshape part of this major artery through the Main Line.
At that point, it will be up to the counties, municipalities and other stakeholders, such as SEPTA, to decide whether to implement any of those suggestions, and if so, which ones.
Four areas have been deemed as priorities: Wayne, Haverford Road, Wynnewood West and West Philadelphia.
Locals want to see Lancaster Avenue more walkable, less congested and connected by bicycling paths and networks. Drivers along Route 30 frequently face heavy traffic, signals with bad timing and intersections that befuddle. Pedestrians run risks walking along ill-defined, narrow sidewalks with dozens of curb cuts. Bicyclists have few bike lanes at their disposal and there’s little to encourage cycling along the route.
While addressing those issues, the study aims to coordinate land use and transportation and tap into existing assets, such as public transit, to find ways to improve access and roadways, promote pedestrian and bike safety, and encourage smart growth. The aim is to improve the livability of neighborhoods that dot the road with better access and less traffic so Main Line communities can flourish.
Needing a face-lift
The recession has affected the Lancaster Avenue corridor and empty storefronts are no longer unusual. Pockets of the avenue appear to have hit a wall and are struggling to regain traffic and re-establish themselves as a destination.
“There are more vacancies now on Route 30 than there ever has been in over 30 years,”
Vacancy normally runs between a tight 2 percent and 3 percent, and now it’s between 4 and 6 percent.
To many, Lancaster was thought to be somewhat insulated because of stable and high-income households flanking it.
“It was a surprise,” a broker with Equity Retail Brokers who does leasing and property management for shopping centers along Lancaster Avenue. “During the downturn in the economy, people would have said Lancaster Avenue wouldn’t have been as impacted as it was. It truly got hurt across the board.”
He believes market dynamics that emerged before the recession have come to roost. “The market ran up rents so aggressively in the late 1990s and mid-2000s that the market got ahead of itself,” he said. “As the market resets and rents come down, the expectation is the space will fill again.”
Metro Commercial Real Estate in Conshohocken, said the recession has taught retailers to be “uber efficient.” When they look at new space, they’re thinking discounts — 33 percent off, if they can get it.
“For landlords, the question is always, ‘Do I do the deal I can do today or wait for the deal I want." “Drug stores, Wawa and banks are not expanding any more. Ground-up development is dead now. Existing real estate is the immediate future. It’s no easier to go through the permit process. Retailers don’t want long-term commitments. The retailer has concerns about a developer finishing a project. And financing is not there.”
For now, much of the existing real estate Gartner talked about is still empty.
In St. David’s, a Blockbuster sits vacant and sidewalks are crumbled. In Wayne, space where Cold Stone Creamery once dished out ice cream is now filled but has faced a revolving door of tenants. In Strafford, the relocation of a Wachovia in the center where the Lancaster Farmer’s Market makes its home has had a ripple effect, causing pedestrian traffic to decline and business for a pizzeria and a nail salon has dramatically fallen off.
Some proposed redevelopments of shopping centers, though announced, haven’t happened, such as Wayne Square, where the Acme sits in St. David’s. Berwyn is also suffering, as the closed hardware store, Pearl of the East furniture and San Nicola restaurant remain empty.
And, the area between Waterloo Avenue and Route 252 is also suffering from a series of vacant storefronts that give it a depressing look.
“When vacancy lingers, you then get the broken window syndrome." But he is confident that Lancaster Avenue will rebound because so many projects are percolating. “To some extent, I do believe it will always have the cachet that it always has had and will be revived,” he said.
Along Lancaster Avenue in Bryn Mawr, retail storefronts are dotted with “vacancy” signs on former businesses like Medley Music, Bryn Mawr Jewelers, State of Grace, Otonic, Goodman Radio and Marcella Soret. There are also “going out of business” signs at State of Grace and Personally Yours, which is liquidating its stock. Signs posted by the Bryn Mawr Business Association say, “Keep Bryn Mawr bright,” but offer a little consolation for shuttered businesses.
Solution sought
Still, for every retailer that has closed there are enduring independent businesses, including Suburban Hardware, Bryn Mawr Running Co., Milkboy Coffee, the nonprofit Bryn Mawr Film Institute and restaurants like Beijing Inn and the Grog, to name just a few.
In nearby Ardmore, retailers and local officials have been seeking a redevelopment solution since well before the recession.
“It’s not a real estate story, it’s a retail story: Why are these retailers not able to survive?”
He urged the Main Line to look to successful models like Old York Road in Jenkintown and downtowns in Haddonfield and Collingswood, N.J., where he said political leaders were aggressive about redeveloping the retail corridor.
By contrast, other towns have trouble focusing on the business part of redevelopment, he said.
“[Many] municipalities focus on aesthetics as a solution,” Gartner said. “They focus on cobblestones and goose-neck lamps. That’s not the solution.”
Opportunities abound, but development has come in fits and starts.
On one stretch of Lancaster Avenue in Bryn Mawr, Blank Aschkenasy Properties in West Conshohocken is in the development stages for a new, Class A retail-and-office complex on two acres on what was a Verizon garage.
The development, whose plans will likely be submitted to Lower Merion Township in the next two months, would include retailers on street level and offices above.
However, with the economy still in flux and numerous vacancies along the avenue, he said the company is taking its time on the proposal.
“If the time to build it is in two to three years, that’s OK,” he said.
In Devon, the owner of Devon Lanes at 300 E. Lancaster Ave. plans to spend $2.5 million re-doing the facade of the building and is leasing up vacant space.
WP Realty, which owns Devon Village, a 75,000-square-foot strip anchored by a Whole Foods Market, will eventually expand the center by 50,000 square feet and is in the midst of lining up tenants.
The former and now vacant Anro corporate headquarters at 222 Lancaster Ave. in Devon is up for sale for $9.5 million and close to going under contract. It sits on 7.5 acres.
In Berwyn, a plan to construct housing on 13.5 acres that included Jimmy Duffy & Sons Caterers’ property at 1456 Lancaster Ave. fell through, and the property is up for sale, offering what could be another site for redevelopment.
In what could be a game changer for Paoli, Amtrak, owner of the Paoli rail yard, a 20-acre tract straddling Tredyffrin and Willistown off North Valley Road, has selected a master developer for the site.
Strategic Realty Investments, a local real estate developer, was picked to come up with a transit-oriented development plan for the property that has basically sat vacant for more than two decades. It will still take some time for anything to come to fruition. In all, the project will likely cost upwards of $500 million and take 10 to 15 years to complete."
The effort marks the first time the regional planning commission has examined this 11-mile swath, which covers three counties and five municipalities. The first phase was launched last July and a second phase will begin this coming July.
“This is a first and it has a lot of challenges, some of them because it is a very built-out corridor,” said David Anderson, manager of corridor planning at DVRPC. “There’s not a lot of room for expansion and it’s very historic.”
As a result, expanding Lancaster Avenue will be unlikely.
Once the second phase is complete, and after several anticipated drafts, the regional planning commission has until June 2011 to offer a series of conclusions, recommendations, priorities and plans that could reshape part of this major artery through the Main Line.
At that point, it will be up to the counties, municipalities and other stakeholders, such as SEPTA, to decide whether to implement any of those suggestions, and if so, which ones.
Four areas have been deemed as priorities: Wayne, Haverford Road, Wynnewood West and West Philadelphia.
Locals want to see Lancaster Avenue more walkable, less congested and connected by bicycling paths and networks. Drivers along Route 30 frequently face heavy traffic, signals with bad timing and intersections that befuddle. Pedestrians run risks walking along ill-defined, narrow sidewalks with dozens of curb cuts. Bicyclists have few bike lanes at their disposal and there’s little to encourage cycling along the route.
While addressing those issues, the study aims to coordinate land use and transportation and tap into existing assets, such as public transit, to find ways to improve access and roadways, promote pedestrian and bike safety, and encourage smart growth. The aim is to improve the livability of neighborhoods that dot the road with better access and less traffic so Main Line communities can flourish.
Needing a face-lift
The recession has affected the Lancaster Avenue corridor and empty storefronts are no longer unusual. Pockets of the avenue appear to have hit a wall and are struggling to regain traffic and re-establish themselves as a destination.
“There are more vacancies now on Route 30 than there ever has been in over 30 years,”
Vacancy normally runs between a tight 2 percent and 3 percent, and now it’s between 4 and 6 percent.
To many, Lancaster was thought to be somewhat insulated because of stable and high-income households flanking it.
“It was a surprise,” a broker with Equity Retail Brokers who does leasing and property management for shopping centers along Lancaster Avenue. “During the downturn in the economy, people would have said Lancaster Avenue wouldn’t have been as impacted as it was. It truly got hurt across the board.”
He believes market dynamics that emerged before the recession have come to roost. “The market ran up rents so aggressively in the late 1990s and mid-2000s that the market got ahead of itself,” he said. “As the market resets and rents come down, the expectation is the space will fill again.”
Metro Commercial Real Estate in Conshohocken, said the recession has taught retailers to be “uber efficient.” When they look at new space, they’re thinking discounts — 33 percent off, if they can get it.
“For landlords, the question is always, ‘Do I do the deal I can do today or wait for the deal I want." “Drug stores, Wawa and banks are not expanding any more. Ground-up development is dead now. Existing real estate is the immediate future. It’s no easier to go through the permit process. Retailers don’t want long-term commitments. The retailer has concerns about a developer finishing a project. And financing is not there.”
For now, much of the existing real estate Gartner talked about is still empty.
In St. David’s, a Blockbuster sits vacant and sidewalks are crumbled. In Wayne, space where Cold Stone Creamery once dished out ice cream is now filled but has faced a revolving door of tenants. In Strafford, the relocation of a Wachovia in the center where the Lancaster Farmer’s Market makes its home has had a ripple effect, causing pedestrian traffic to decline and business for a pizzeria and a nail salon has dramatically fallen off.
Some proposed redevelopments of shopping centers, though announced, haven’t happened, such as Wayne Square, where the Acme sits in St. David’s. Berwyn is also suffering, as the closed hardware store, Pearl of the East furniture and San Nicola restaurant remain empty.
And, the area between Waterloo Avenue and Route 252 is also suffering from a series of vacant storefronts that give it a depressing look.
“When vacancy lingers, you then get the broken window syndrome." But he is confident that Lancaster Avenue will rebound because so many projects are percolating. “To some extent, I do believe it will always have the cachet that it always has had and will be revived,” he said.
Along Lancaster Avenue in Bryn Mawr, retail storefronts are dotted with “vacancy” signs on former businesses like Medley Music, Bryn Mawr Jewelers, State of Grace, Otonic, Goodman Radio and Marcella Soret. There are also “going out of business” signs at State of Grace and Personally Yours, which is liquidating its stock. Signs posted by the Bryn Mawr Business Association say, “Keep Bryn Mawr bright,” but offer a little consolation for shuttered businesses.
Solution sought
Still, for every retailer that has closed there are enduring independent businesses, including Suburban Hardware, Bryn Mawr Running Co., Milkboy Coffee, the nonprofit Bryn Mawr Film Institute and restaurants like Beijing Inn and the Grog, to name just a few.
In nearby Ardmore, retailers and local officials have been seeking a redevelopment solution since well before the recession.
“It’s not a real estate story, it’s a retail story: Why are these retailers not able to survive?”
He urged the Main Line to look to successful models like Old York Road in Jenkintown and downtowns in Haddonfield and Collingswood, N.J., where he said political leaders were aggressive about redeveloping the retail corridor.
By contrast, other towns have trouble focusing on the business part of redevelopment, he said.
“[Many] municipalities focus on aesthetics as a solution,” Gartner said. “They focus on cobblestones and goose-neck lamps. That’s not the solution.”
Opportunities abound, but development has come in fits and starts.
On one stretch of Lancaster Avenue in Bryn Mawr, Blank Aschkenasy Properties in West Conshohocken is in the development stages for a new, Class A retail-and-office complex on two acres on what was a Verizon garage.
The development, whose plans will likely be submitted to Lower Merion Township in the next two months, would include retailers on street level and offices above.
However, with the economy still in flux and numerous vacancies along the avenue, he said the company is taking its time on the proposal.
“If the time to build it is in two to three years, that’s OK,” he said.
In Devon, the owner of Devon Lanes at 300 E. Lancaster Ave. plans to spend $2.5 million re-doing the facade of the building and is leasing up vacant space.
WP Realty, which owns Devon Village, a 75,000-square-foot strip anchored by a Whole Foods Market, will eventually expand the center by 50,000 square feet and is in the midst of lining up tenants.
The former and now vacant Anro corporate headquarters at 222 Lancaster Ave. in Devon is up for sale for $9.5 million and close to going under contract. It sits on 7.5 acres.
In Berwyn, a plan to construct housing on 13.5 acres that included Jimmy Duffy & Sons Caterers’ property at 1456 Lancaster Ave. fell through, and the property is up for sale, offering what could be another site for redevelopment.
In what could be a game changer for Paoli, Amtrak, owner of the Paoli rail yard, a 20-acre tract straddling Tredyffrin and Willistown off North Valley Road, has selected a master developer for the site.
Strategic Realty Investments, a local real estate developer, was picked to come up with a transit-oriented development plan for the property that has basically sat vacant for more than two decades. It will still take some time for anything to come to fruition. In all, the project will likely cost upwards of $500 million and take 10 to 15 years to complete."
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Sale of Two Local Properties
"1. 1216-1232 Wood Street, a 22,000 SF property located in center city, close to the Pennsylvania Convention Center, was the former home to Bethanna, a Christian organization that provides family services. (This was a Sale/Leaseback). Bethanna took back a Lease for a portion of the 1st floor. Sold for $1.6 million. The property was purchased by 1216-1232 Wood Street, LP who will use the property for their own offices, as well as investment purposes.
2. 3670 S. Lawrence Street, a 2 acre parcel located in the Food Distribution Center in South Philadelphia, just off Pattison Avenue near the Lincoln Financial Field, Citizens Bank Park and Wachovia was sold to Stein & Silverman Family Partnership, LP, for future development. The parcel sold for $600,000."
2. 3670 S. Lawrence Street, a 2 acre parcel located in the Food Distribution Center in South Philadelphia, just off Pattison Avenue near the Lincoln Financial Field, Citizens Bank Park and Wachovia was sold to Stein & Silverman Family Partnership, LP, for future development. The parcel sold for $600,000."
Four Lease Transactions in Bala Cynwyd
"Brokers Insurance leased 3,888 SF of office space at Two Bala Plaza in Bala Cynwyd, PA. Brokers Insurance will be relocating to Bala Cynwyd from their current office in Jenkintown, PA. Plans to occupy their new space are set for October 2010. The building landlord is Tishman Speyer.
· Bala Child & Family Associates, LLC leased 2,800 SF of office space on the first floor at One Bala Avenue in Bala Cynwyd, PA. The practice relocated from 29 Bala Ave.
· Allegiance Bank renewed their 6,698 SF corporate office space at One Belmont Avenue in Bala Cynwyd, PA.
· Clayman Management, LLC leased 1,371 SF of office space at One Presidential Boulevard in Bala Cynwyd, PA. Clayman Management is relocating from 101 W City Ave. in Bala Cynwyd. Plans to occupy the space are set for October 2010. The building landlord is Keystone Property Group."
· Bala Child & Family Associates, LLC leased 2,800 SF of office space on the first floor at One Bala Avenue in Bala Cynwyd, PA. The practice relocated from 29 Bala Ave.
· Allegiance Bank renewed their 6,698 SF corporate office space at One Belmont Avenue in Bala Cynwyd, PA.
· Clayman Management, LLC leased 1,371 SF of office space at One Presidential Boulevard in Bala Cynwyd, PA. Clayman Management is relocating from 101 W City Ave. in Bala Cynwyd. Plans to occupy the space are set for October 2010. The building landlord is Keystone Property Group."
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