Regions Midatlantic | Philadephia
Nov 19, 2007
By: Gail Kalinoski, Contributing Editor
Construction began today on Cira Centre South, part of an approximately $800 million, 2.8 million-square-foot development planned for Philadelphia’s University City by Brandywine Realty Trust and the University of Pennsylvania.
Brandywine CEO Jerry Sweeney and University of Pennsylvania president Amy Gutmann were joined this morning by city and state officials at 30th Street between Walnut and Chestnut streets for an official groundbreaking ceremony. Demolition began today on the U.S. Post Office Truck Terminal Annex.
The 14-acre mixed-use project will replace the terminal annex and will be built at the same time the 862,000-square-foot historic Post Office Building undergoes renovation. Both projects are estimated to cost about $800 million. The site is about one block from Cira Centre, a 732,000-square-foot office tower Brandywine completed in 2005.
The 733,000-square-foot Cira Centre South will have about 500,000 square feet of office space, ground-floor retail, and possible hotel and residential units as well, according to an Aug. 31 CPN report. A 2,400-space parking garage will be built by mid-2010 as part of the first phase. The second phase, expected to be finished two years later, will include the 40-to 50- story office tower and a 25-to 30-story residential building, according to an Aug. 31 Philadelphia Inquirer story by Suzette Parmley. Penn has agreed to a 20-year lease for at least 100,000 square feet of the office space.
The university had purchased 14 acres, including the Annex and main post office building, from the U.S. Postal Service. Brandywine then purchased the post office building for $28 million from Penn. The building is slated to become the Philadelphia headquarters of the Internal Revenue Service, which signed a 20-year lease for the space, which is expected to house about 5,000 workers.
The development is part of Penn’s master plan called Penn Connects. CPN reported that Penn recently opened a $100 million mixed-use commercial luxury apartment, rental and retail project called Domus and a $15 million retail and entertainment site called WXPN World Café. In an earlier press release, Gutmann said the university planned to eventually redevelop the 14 acres into academic, cultural, commercial and residential buildings and athletic fields as well as retain open space.
“The project will stimulate economic development, improve the urban infrastructure and character of University City, bridge the divide between the campus and Center City and create a vital new center of commerce for the region,” Gutmann stated in late August.
Brandywine owns, develops and manages predominantly Class A office properties with a total of about 44.1 million square feet. On Nov. 9, CPN reported that Brandywine is selling 29 properties in its suburban Philadelphia office portfolio to a new joint venture with DRA Advisors L.L.C. of New York City for $245.4 million. The Radnor, Pa.-based REIT will own 20 percent of the JV. The properties consist of about 1.6 million square feet, with buildings in Allentown, Horsham, Ft. Washington and Bensalem.
By: Gail Kalinoski, Contributing Editor
Construction began today on Cira Centre South, part of an approximately $800 million, 2.8 million-square-foot development planned for Philadelphia’s University City by Brandywine Realty Trust and the University of Pennsylvania.
Brandywine CEO Jerry Sweeney and University of Pennsylvania president Amy Gutmann were joined this morning by city and state officials at 30th Street between Walnut and Chestnut streets for an official groundbreaking ceremony. Demolition began today on the U.S. Post Office Truck Terminal Annex.
The 14-acre mixed-use project will replace the terminal annex and will be built at the same time the 862,000-square-foot historic Post Office Building undergoes renovation. Both projects are estimated to cost about $800 million. The site is about one block from Cira Centre, a 732,000-square-foot office tower Brandywine completed in 2005.
The 733,000-square-foot Cira Centre South will have about 500,000 square feet of office space, ground-floor retail, and possible hotel and residential units as well, according to an Aug. 31 CPN report. A 2,400-space parking garage will be built by mid-2010 as part of the first phase. The second phase, expected to be finished two years later, will include the 40-to 50- story office tower and a 25-to 30-story residential building, according to an Aug. 31 Philadelphia Inquirer story by Suzette Parmley. Penn has agreed to a 20-year lease for at least 100,000 square feet of the office space.
The university had purchased 14 acres, including the Annex and main post office building, from the U.S. Postal Service. Brandywine then purchased the post office building for $28 million from Penn. The building is slated to become the Philadelphia headquarters of the Internal Revenue Service, which signed a 20-year lease for the space, which is expected to house about 5,000 workers.
The development is part of Penn’s master plan called Penn Connects. CPN reported that Penn recently opened a $100 million mixed-use commercial luxury apartment, rental and retail project called Domus and a $15 million retail and entertainment site called WXPN World Café. In an earlier press release, Gutmann said the university planned to eventually redevelop the 14 acres into academic, cultural, commercial and residential buildings and athletic fields as well as retain open space.
“The project will stimulate economic development, improve the urban infrastructure and character of University City, bridge the divide between the campus and Center City and create a vital new center of commerce for the region,” Gutmann stated in late August.
Brandywine owns, develops and manages predominantly Class A office properties with a total of about 44.1 million square feet. On Nov. 9, CPN reported that Brandywine is selling 29 properties in its suburban Philadelphia office portfolio to a new joint venture with DRA Advisors L.L.C. of New York City for $245.4 million. The Radnor, Pa.-based REIT will own 20 percent of the JV. The properties consist of about 1.6 million square feet, with buildings in Allentown, Horsham, Ft. Washington and Bensalem.
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