Franklin Square Capital to move to Navy Yard from Cira Centre

We have witnessed the beginning shift of the city center westward, towards University City, when we built the Comcast Center and now with the ongoing expansion of University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and CHOP.  When we started to build out the Navy Yard, a similar discussion was had about the possibility of an expanding city center southward, but transportation was always a key issue.  With direct access to major highways, car access was never an issue.  The discussion has always been centered upon public transportation via an extension of the Broad Street subway.  Have we finally begun to see enough significant development at the Navy Yard to begin that discussion again? Are we finally building out our city center, west and south, increasing our employer base and eventual resident tax base too?  There are some interesting times ahead for the city. 

Franklin Square Capital to move to Navy Yard from Cira Centre

Franklin Square Capital Partners will be relocating its headquarters to the Philadelphia Navy Yard where Liberty Property Trust and Synterra Partners will construct a new four-story, 80,050-square-foot building for the firm.

The firm will be moving from Cira Centre.

Franklin Square signed a long-term lease for the entire building, which is located on just over four acres next to the Courtyard by Marriott that is under construction. The address is 201 Rouse Blvd.

Franklin Square designs and manages alternative investment funds that allow mainstream investors to access asset classes, like investments in private companies, that were previously only available to institutional investors. Company revenues grew from $1.5 million in 2009 to just under $27 million last year, or 1,698 percent. It was formed in 2007 with 15 employees and now has 150 people working for it. It has been ranked 13th on Forbes Magazine’s 2013 list of America’s most promising companies.

“We are excited to keep our headquarters in Philadelphia and to join the growing community at the Navy Yard,” said Michael Forman, founder and CEO of Franklin Square, in a statement. “We look forward to having a custom designed space that will accommodate our rapid growth and foster our company’s energetic, collaborative and innovative culture,” Forman concluded.

The new headquarters will have views of both of a new park and Philadelphia’s skyline, a café-style restaurant, a multi-use exercise facility, conference facilities, and floor plans full of natural light and designed to foster team interaction.

The building, referred to as 201 Rouse, has been designed by DIGSAU, a Philadelphia architectural firm. The ground floor glass pedestal with three floors of zinc exterior cladding above incorporating floor to ceiling windows throughout and a lobby featuring exceptional materials such as wood flooring, hand-chiseled Jerusalem limestone and Venetian plaster.

Glenn Blumenfeld and Kartik Patel of Radnor-based Tactix Real Estate Advisors represented the tenant in the transaction.

This is the twelfth development project initiated by Liberty at the Navy Yard in nine years and the second project the company set out to construct on speculation but ended up getting fully leased. Iroko Pharmaceuticals was the other project that ended up being a build to suit.

Liberty and Synterra expect to begin construction next month and complete the building in the first quarter of 2015.

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal