PHILADELPHIA | FMC Tower @ Cira Centre South | 736 FT | 49 FLOORS

[pwp]

As skeptical as I still am on this project happening in Philly, something dawned on me regarding the argument made for commute time to Cira for the current Plainsboro employee-base. The assumption is that a move to Philly could possibly lead to a massive loss in personnel. However the time disparity between the two commutes may not be as great as it seems.

Probably the next most logical choice for BlackRock after Philly is New Brunswick. Although I'm sure current BR employees fear a commute to Philly, it may not be THAT much worse than commuting to New Brunswick. Outside of the NJ Turnpike, Rt 1 is the primary artery for north-south travel in that part of Jersey. The morning rush-hour commute on Rt 1 is absolutely dreadful and intensifies as it approaches NB. Then of course once in New Brunswick, commuters extend their commute via a crawl throughout the city to find a parking space or garage.

Commuting to the Hamilton NJ Transit station, taking a 10 minute rail ride to Trenton then switching to an R7 which stops directly at Cira wouldn't be all that bad, as compared to trudging up Rt 1.

Any in agreement?

[winxs]

It depends on where the employees currently live. You appear to be assuming that most will be coming from the Princeton area or along Rt 1. I would venture to say many probably live along the I287 corridor in places like Basking Ridge or Hillsborough or possibly down around Freehold. From those places, the commute to New Brunswick would be much easier than getting to Philly. But then, that is just speculation because I don't know anyone who works for Blackrock.

On another note, I was at the Phillies game tonight and they had a "welcome" to Employees of Blackrock on the scoreboard, and not just when they listed the groups attending the game. Maybe they were courting the execs or it could have just been their Wilmington crew.

[Ninjawho]

That's the second time I've heard them putting that up on the board at a Phil's game...they might be doing it as a matter of policy now...shmoozing like the dickens...

[stampy88]

This thing sounds like it is not even close to being a done deal.

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq-phillydeals/NJ_hasnt_given_up_on_BlackRock_.html

Thursday, August 21, 2008
Cira 2 fight: NJ hasn't given up on BlackRock

Despite tax breaks offered by Pennsylvania and Philadelphia, New Jersey still hopes to keep up to 1,500 BlackRock Inc. investment workers from moving to Brandywine Realty Trust's proposed Cira 2 tower. NJ Gov. Corzine is still pitching New Brunswick, and maybe other sites closer to the workers' current, temporary home in Plainsboro, N.J.
Brandywine CEO Gerard Sweeney has warned investors there could still be months of tough negotiations before he could land BlackRock as an anchor tenant. Meanwhile, the Garden State isn't letting up.
"We are making a good-faith effort to convince Black Rock that New Jersey is the best place for its business," Robert Corrales, a spokesman for Corzine, told PhillyDeals today. To help keep BlackRock, the state has, among other things, "lowered the eligibility criteria for grants to companies looking to relocate in the state. We believe, in the end, Black Rock will realize that New Jersey is the best choice to call home."

[pwp]

Originally Posted by winxs

I would venture to say many probably live along the I287 corridor in places like Basking Ridge or Hillsborough or possibly down around Freehold. From those places, the commute to New Brunswick would be much easier than getting to Philly. But then, that is just speculation because I don't know anyone who works for Blackrock.

That's a good point, I hadn't thought about it. I hope that's not the case though

[Londonee]

Really this whole BlackROck spectacle, potentially using a company-move to leverage better tax breaks, and watching as the competing states and cities eagerly and desperately pass legislation promoting all of this...underscores, to me, the importance of encouraging the support, development and growth of small businesses WITHIN your city already.

Hopefully, somewhere in Philly is the next Comcast or Blackrock.

[Ltrain]

If they back out, and I was on city council, I'd move to condemn their board of directors and attempt to put financial sanctions on them, AKA, prevent them from doing anything in Philadelphia. But uh, I'm a vengeful person.

[pwp]

Originally Posted by Ltrain

If they back out, and I was on city council, I'd move to condemn their board of directors and attempt to put financial sanctions on them, AKA, prevent them from doing anything in Philadelphia. But uh, I'm a vengeful person.

I agree. When working in sales, there were certain companies who would not negotiate on prices based on the prices of others. They'd consider offers from two, three, four companies after analyzing the benefits, strengths, weaknesses of each product then make a decision. No back-and-forth. No "You give me this, and I'll do that". Just straight-forward business decisions without the bull$h*t.

Even though Philly is not in much of a position to bar any company from conducting business here, I'd still like to see them banned somehow. So I guess I'm a vengeful person too

[twicedead]

Originally Posted by pwp

I agree. When working in sales, there were certain companies who would not negotiate on prices based on the prices of others. They'd consider offers from two, three, four companies after analyzing the benefits, strengths, weaknesses of each product then make a decision. No back-and-forth. No "You give me this, and I'll do that". Just straight-forward business decisions without the bull$h*t.

Even though Philly is not in much of a position to bar any company from conducting business here, I'd still like to see them banned somehow. So I guess I'm a vengeful person too

Not a good PR move with other potential prospects. I'd be dissuaded to even make a call to Philly if I saw such a hostile move.

[gbayard]

The earlier post about incubating our own companies is a very good point. Most big city office space is consumed by organic firms... we never seem to get that. Unfortunately, if I was starting a business today, Philadelphia would have to be near the bottom of my lists to locate. The tax burden is not competitive. I'm biased towards the area, so I'd probably just take office space in the closer suburbs.

[skyscraper]

Originally Posted by Londonee

Really this whole BlackROck spectacle, potentially using a company-move to leverage better tax breaks, and watching as the competing states and cities eagerly and desperately pass legislation promoting all of this...underscores, to me, the importance of encouraging the support, development and growth of small businesses WITHIN your city already.

Hopefully, somewhere in Philly is the next Comcast or Blackrock.

it's no different than what professional sports teams do to get new stadiums built. they threaten to move to another city, an outcry of "Save our Team!" arises from the masses, and boom, the local and state governments magically find the money to keep the team.
it's too bad we identify more with sports teams than with industry and commerce.

[Lincolndrive]

I think the good news about this whole situation is the fact that the tax breaks have been extended to 2025 meaning that Brandywine would be stupid not to get these buildings constructed ASAP regardless of a major tenant. You would have to think that LOTS of companies would be interested in this type of class A, tax free space right on the NE corridor. The longer they wait to build, the fewer years of tax exemption they can offer to tenants.

I'm not sure how many pre-construction tenants the original Cira Centre had but as soon as it opened, boom, the whole thing was sold out almost instantly. It has been an enormous success. IMO, its truly a case of, if you build it they will come. Its hard to justify this in a recession but things will get better before too long so I'm not worried about the long term on this project. It will happen. Its just a matter of how soon it will start.

Although I'd rather see the tax breaks encourage business from outside the Philadelphia region to move in, more than anything I want to see UCity move upwards and extend the skyline of CC while bringing in new retail and residential buildings. I know other people mentioned Penn as a major tenant and that still wouldn't surprise me. Office space in UC is really hard to come by.

[Jes44]

I think they will definitely construct at least one of the two towers initially because Penn will be using part of the office space and plus it will take a while to construct the towers to begin with, allowing time to secure additional tennant(s) for the unoccupied parts of the buildings. Has anyone gone by the construction site to see what is going on? Would anyone be kind enough to take some digital pictures of the construction site?

[UCityGardener]

Penn's only committed to lease about 20% of the office building, so I'm doubtful this will get started without BT signing another lead tenant willing to lease at least 30% of the space.

The 2nd tower was proposed as a rental apt building. Given that CC rental occupancy is at 95% that seems like a more viable venture at this point than the office building.

[We Got Five]

I had heard recently from folks at Penn that they were leasing between 100,000 sf and 125,000 sf but they had options for more. Also, I beleive the second tower also contained a hotel component.

[UCityGardener]

The taller building will have 500,000 square feet of offices, a hotel, and some residential. The 2nd (shorter) tower is planned as all residential and I believe rental at that.

You're correct that currently Penn has committed to lease 100,000 square feet (or 20%) of the mixed use tower. I suspect they'll end up leasing more, but until BR can hook a big fish or get Penn to commit to considerably more space I don't count on seeing the taller tower move forward.

[cb3cb3]

brandywine realty's website says the taller building is 24 % leased and that 380,000 sqft is available out of 500,000

[GarCastle]

I believe this is all being built on land leased from UPenn for 99'ish years. That would mean that there will be no condo's since you cannot sell leased property correct? That explains the rentals part.

[theWatusi]

correctamundo

[highdensity32]

Originally Posted by GarCastle

I believe this is all being built on land leased from UPenn for 99'ish years. That would mean that there will be no condo's since you cannot sell leased property correct? That explains the rentals part.

The condos at Pier 3 and Pier 5 are on a 99 year lease from the city. I'm not worried yet as there are 75 years remaining on the lease.