This Week's Philadelphia Deal Sheet
Keystone has notched another lease at The Washington, taking the nearly 1M SF historic office building close to full occupancy.
The Philadelphia Business Journal signed a nearly eight-year lease for a 7,200 SF office on The Washington's fourth floor, Bisnow can exclusively report. PBJ will relocate from its office at 400 Market St. about three blocks away. Along with the 10K SF leased by jeweler Paul Morelli earlier this month, the newest deal takes The Washington to 91% occupancy.
Keystone has signed 10 leases at The Washington in the past 15 months, starting with a three-year extension Chubb signed last April for the 141K SF office it plans to vacate when its build-to-suit at 2000 Arch St. is completed. Keystone plans to convert the space to apartments once Chubb departs, CEO Rich Gottlieb told Bisnow in April.
SALES
Abrams Realty & Development purchased the 178K SF open-air shopping center DeKalb Plaza for $23M from Broad Street Realty. JLL Senior Managing Directors Christopher Munley and James Galbally, Managing Director Colin Behr and Director James Graf represented Broad Street in the sale.
The 98% occupied center at 2640-2714 Dekalb Pike in the Montgomery County suburb of East Norriton is anchored by a Big Lots and family entertainment venue Urban Air. More than 96K SF of its leases were signed in 2020 or later, with a weighted average remaining lease term of over five years.
LEASING
Local distillery Stateside Vodka signed a 40K SF lease at Crown 95 Logistics Center, Court Street Ventures' newly completed 511K SF distribution center at 956 East Erie Ave. in Philly. Colliers represented Court Street in lease negotiations.
Stateside took space within the redeveloped 130K SF section, leaving 90K SF of Class-B warehouse space available for lease, as well as the 381K SF of new construction and a 25K SF section slated for recreation or flex use.
CONSTRUCTION
Co-warehousing operator WareSpace is set to deliver its 10th location in September when it opens a 52K SF distribution center at 7000 Atrium Way in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, in September. WareSpace will offer warehouse suites as small as 250 SF with flexible lease terms ranging from $700 per month, according to the property's LoopNet listing.
WareSpace already operates one location in Philadelphia, a 172K SF building at 3500 Scotts Lane in East Falls that it purchased for $13M in January 2022, according to city property records.
***
Six Acre Capital, in partnership with arts programming and curation firm Ray, opened art-focused apartment building Ray Philly at 1525 North American St. on July 25. The new 103K SF building contains 110 apartments, a ground floor with six artist studios, and a commercial space and several public art displays.
With a construction cost of $34M, Ray Philly is targeting creatives not just for its ground floor but also for its residential units, offering amenities like a communal art studio for residents. The ground-floor artist studios have roll-up garage doors and programming from Ray to ensure that they interact with the community. The first three tenants are bookshop/curator Ulises, artist Michelle Lopez and design firm Linden Ave Studio.
