Brandywine expects to start on Schuylkill Yards in 2018

Schuylkill Yards, a project that Brandywine Realty Trust is doing in partnership with Drexel University, will be developed in six phases over a 20-year period with the first phase beginning during the first half of 2018, according to documents filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

That initial phase will consist of a 700,000-square-foot mixed-use facility of which office space will account for at least 60 percent. Construction of that structure is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2019, Brandywine said in the SEC documents.

Brandywine (NYSE: BDN) said it entered into a master development agreement with Drexel on May 9 to build on just over 10 acres next to the university’s campus. The partnership and development was announced in March and additional details were provided in the recently filed SEC document.

Brandywine said it anticipates entering into a 99-year ground lease with Drexel on the first and subsequent phases of the project. It will involve a mix of commercial, office, educational, research, residential, and other facilities, as well as green spaces and at build out total 5 million square feet and cost an estimated $3.5 billion.

Before any ground is broken, however, the Radnor, Pa., real estate investment trust said it will be spending between $10 million to $15 million in costs over the next 18 to 24 months, primarily to obtain zoning, land-use and other approvals and to develop park area associated with Schuylkill Yards.

Source: Philadelphia Business Journals