American Water Works Co. Inc. will relocate its
headquarters to a new building that will be constructed along the Camden
waterfront.
The five-story, 222,376-square-foot structure will be
constructed by Liberty Property Trust (NYSE: LPT) and marks the
first building to be constructed as part of a $1 billion mixed-use development
the real estate investment trust has planned in the South Jersey community.
Called One Water Street, construction of the metal and
glass building will begin along with the construction of an adjacent garage
this fall. The project is expected to be completed in the second half of 2018.
It was designed Robert A. M. Stern Architects and Gensler was retained to do
the interior design.
The building will front the Delaware River, and will be
located between the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and Campbell’s Field.
It had been rumored for some time that American Water
(NYSE: AWK) was in talks with Liberty to develop a new headquarters in Camden.
The company is now headquartered in about 200,000 square feet at 1025 Laurel
Oak Road in Voorhees, New Jersey.
The company started to look for a new headquarters a few
years ago, said Jeremy Kierman, senior project manager at
American Water. It's now in five different locations and wanted to be in a
space where employees could work effectively and collaboratively, he said.
American Water looked at several different areas
including the Philadelphia Navy Yard and throughout South Jersey. It wasn't
long before Camden came into play.
"We looked at different opportunities and the idea
of owning a building was appealing to us," Kierman said. "We wanted
to create a more modern office space and it will accommodate our growth and
future business needs."
The company will be consolidating the five facilities it
currently leases in South Jersey into One Water Street. Roughly 600 employees
will be working from the new building.
Liberty is developing the building for the company and
will not own it. The water company will use $164 million in tax credits that it
received from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority to build the
facility.
“We are very
excited with the opportunity to build our new headquarters on the Camden
Waterfront,” said Susan Story, president and CEO of American Water, in a
statement. “The waterfront location and the business community that is being
created here offers great benefits to our employees and allows us to become a
more significant part of a community where we are proud to provide water and
wastewater services.”
Last September, Liberty announced it planned to develop an “iconic
skyline” along the Delaware River in Camden that looked to
become an integral component to the struggling city’s revitalization. It’s the
first time the Malvern, Pennsylvania real estate company has ventured into the
South Jersey city. Its plan involves developing 1.5 million square feet of
office space with hotel, residential and retail components.
When Liberty made the announcement last fall, it said
that there was enough interest in its vision to fully lease up the space it
planned to build.
“We continue to work diligently to put the additional
pieces in place to establish ‘The Camden Waterfront’ as a vibrant community,”
said John Gattuso of Liberty Property in a statement. “We are also working with
several additional corporations in this exciting live-work-play environment.”
Lucrative tax incentives state officials put
in place through its Grow New Jersey Assistance Program have
lured other companies to set up operations in Camden. Subaru, Holtec and the
Philadelphia 76ers have projects underway in the city. The tax incentives and
activity has helped create a more attractive environment for private
investment.
Source: Philadelphia
business Journal
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