MALVERN, PA-In a rare instance of new office building development, CB Richard Ellis Realty Trust has entered into a joint venture with Trammell Crow Co. to develop 1400 Atwater Drive here as the 300,000-square-foot international corporate headquarters of Endo Pharmaceuticals.
The $70 million, two-building Class A complex, located in the Atwater Business Park development, is scheduled for completion in December 2012.
“This is a good sign for the health of the pharmaceutical industry in metro Philadelphia,” Jeff Goggins, a senior managing director of Trammell Crow Co., tells GlobeSt.com. “There hasn’t been a whole lot of overbuilding in Philadelphia, so as companies grow, they will need to build.”
Endo, currently based in Chadds Ford, PA, also received some retention funding from the state.
“Endo is in fast-growth mode,” Goggins says. “They were located in Pennsylvania and their heart was to stay.”
The joint venture marks CB Richard Ellis Realty Trust’s entrance into the Philadelphia MSA, and a rare instance of investing with another entity of CBRE Group, which acquired Trammell Crow in 2006. The Trust is a public nontraded REIT, and is funding 95% of the project.
“Trammell Crow had been chasing this transaction for a long period of time, and talked to us as an equity source,” Philip L. Kianka, executive vp and COO of CB Richard Ellis Realty Trust, tells GlobeSt.com. The team worked with Acquisition senior director Kim Adamek and the acquisitions team from CBRE Global Investors. “We had never entered into this sort of agreement, but took advantage of it. We worked through our independent committee.”
Designed by Philadelphia-based L2Partridge and planned for LEED certification, the buildings will be connected by a dramatic two-story glass lobby and feature a full-service cafeteria, fitness center and conference center. Situated on a former quarry, the site overlooks the 60-acre Atwater Lake. Trammell Crow is investigating utilizing geothermal energy for the facility.
The development is within. Atwater Park, a 388-acre mixed-use park that will include office, hotel, and multi-family components, is situated off Interstate 76 (Pennsylvania Turnpike) at Highway 29, a new interchange that is currently under construction by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.
“The interchange is one of the primary reasons Endo decided to look at the Park,” Goggins says.
Eventually, Atwater Park will have some 10 million square feet of development. “Malvern is an excellent location,” Kianka says. “And this is the best parcel in the Atwater Business Park. It will help Endo be able to grow.”
It may also help the Business Park grow, as well, Kianka adds. The site, owned by Trammell Crow since 1999, has one other existing building.
“It should spark some interest in the Business Park,” Kianka says. “I hope you’ll see some spark in growth.”
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