Insurer takes big lease at Stock Exchange building in Center City

Independence Blue Cross will lease a significant portion of 1900 Market St. in Center City to consolidate offices it has in the suburbs.

IBC has decided to take 112,000 square feet, or two floors, of the 456,922-square-foot building that many know as the Stock Exchange.

The move had been considered by the insurer for a while.

“Our wholly owned subsidiary AmeriHealth Administrators has been weighing options for moving its two offices from Horsham and Fort Washington to a single, larger site in Center City,” said Judimarie Thomas, an IBC spokeswoman in an email. “This week the company decided to relocate those operations to 1900 Market Street ... AmeriHealth Administrators anticipates the new space will create an environment that will better reflect its collaborative culture and accommodate future growth.”

It expects to move those operations early next year.

The property sits directly across from its headquarters at 1901 Market St., a 50-story, 760,000-square-foot building in which it will continue to occupy.

By expanding into 1900 Market, IBC begins to form an urban campus of sorts along West Market Street. Aside from occupying 1901 Market, IBC has installed what it calls an innovation center in 5,000 square feet at 1700 Market and has leased a portion of space at 1919 Market, a 29-story mixed-use building totaling 455,000 square feet that is under construction and will have 24,000 square feet of office and retail space.

The so-called Stock Exchange building was constructed in 1981 and Cozen O’Connor, its lead tenant, is vacating it this spring. With the IBC lease secured, Brandywine Realty Trust will likely move forward with plans to renovate the building.

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal