This Week's Philadelphia Deal Sheet: Dilworth Paxson Ditches Centre Square
Law firm Dilworth Paxson has relocated from its offices at Centre Square to a 48K SF space at One Liberty Place, according to an announcement from Colliers.
The move represents a 40% downsize, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal, but the firm moved, in part, due to concerns about the viability of Centre Square’s future.
The 1500 Market St. building that had served as the firm's HQ has been in receivership since April 2023 over a $368M past-due loan.
“It's OK at the moment, but what it's going be like three, four or five years from now, who knows? And One Liberty is a premier building,” Dilworth Paxson Chairman Lawrence McMichael told PBJ. “We're not worried about the quality of the building or the services there at all. There's no debt on the building and it's well occupied.”
Colliers’ John Susanin and Brendan Leahy managed the lease transaction on behalf of the firm. Cushman & Wakefield’s Bill Hirschfeld represented One Liberty. Terms of the lease were not disclosed.
LEASES
Clark Capital expanded its lease by 17K SF at One Liberty Place, taking over 37.5K SF on the building’s 54th floor. The company’s headcount has increased from 50 to 150 people in the last nine years. About 110 are based in Philadelphia, PBJ reported.
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Private equity real estate firm PPR Capital Management has relocated its corporate headquarters to the Crosspoint office building in Wayne. The new 13K SF space is nearly double the square footage of its prior headquarters, according to the firm.
The new PPR office at 550 E. Swedesford Road has 41 open-seat desks, eight dedicated offices and a video podcast studio.
The multiyear lease had been overdue as “two new employees had to share a desk before,” PPR CEO Steve Meyer told Bisnow.
Terms were not disclosed.
DEVELOPMENT
MCB Real Estate has begun building the Drexeline Medical Office Building, a 60K SF building at 5100 State Road in Drexel Hill. The firm plans to open the building, part of Drexeline Town Center, by the second quarter of 2025, according to a release.
The building is leased in full to the Delaware County Human Services and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Tyler Vandergrift of JLL represented CHOP, and Kartik Patel of Tactix Real Estate Advisors represented Delaware County Human Services in the lease-ups. Scott Williams of JLL represented MCB Real Estate in both transactions.
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The first Netflix House at King of Prussia Mall will open in 2025, according to an announcement from the entertainment company. That location will offer a theater, merchandise and food experiences themed around hit Netflix shows like Stranger Things and Squid Game.
The KOP location, along with one in Dallas, will be the first permanent installations the streaming service plans to open next year.
In a similar deal, the CAMP brand of entertainment shows for children will open a 10K SF-plus experiential retail outlet at King of Prussia Mall next year. The immersive experience aimed at children will offer a rotating format based on branded hit shows like BBC's Bluey.
