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April 19, 2024
Four years into the great shakeup of how and where we work, companies are reimagining their physical workspaces to align with business goals, mission, culture, and employee satisfaction in a changing world. In response, some of the nation’s top-performing companies are turning to workplace experts including top office developers and landlords like Brandywine Realty Trust, the dominant owner of Class A office space in Philadelphia, to craft tailored workplace experiences and reimagine the next level of workplace.
The trend is clear: 58% of all new leasing across Brandywine’s portfolio in 2023 was with tenants looking to move up the quality curve to well-located, highly amenitized buildings. Recently, several forward-thinking companies seeking to move up the quality curve in Philadelphia decided to reevaluate their workplace strategy within the Brandywine platform. We spoke with key leaders at these companies to hear more about their decision to (re)commit to office in Philadelphia’s urban core, how their workplace design and requirements have evolved post-pandemic, and why partnering with a stable landlord is critical now more than ever.
Location Location Location
Thomas LaSlavia, Moody’s Analytics Inc Head of Commercial Real Estate, recently spoke on the recent evolution of the “flight to quality” narrative saying, “To me, this evolution in office is more about metros and neighborhoods...It really turns out that the old saying 'location, location, location' is still incredibly valuable, and maybe more than ever in this asset class, as we move toward employees wanting to be in vibrant neighborhoods, where there actually are amenities even outside of what that Class A building can provide." This sentiment has proven true nationally, as CBD vacancy is still lower than suburban vacancy in 40% of U.S. markets despite supply-side challenges, as well as Brandywine’s Philadelphia portfolio which is 97% leased.
For Turner Construction, who recently relocated to 15,000 square feet at Commerce Square, the firm wants employees to “feel at home, not just in the office, but in the surrounding neighborhood,” says Vice President and General Manager Dave Kaminski. “Having the ability to utilize the building’s amenities and walkability of the neighborhood provides that,” Kaminski continued. Global design firm Gensler, which doubled its Philadelphia footprint by expanding its space at Commerce Square in 2023, echoed this sentiment: “Being in the heart of the city, central to our clients, the downtown community, as well as being close to public transit is such an important part of our workplace experience,” said Linda Pileggi, Design Director and Senior Associate at Gensler.
Global design firm Gensler recently expanded and redesigned its office at Commerce Square to accommodate both collaborative and heads-down work.
In 2023, law firm Fox Rothschild announced its move from its home of 46 years to Commerce Square, taking 78,000 square feet at the trophy-class building. Chief Operating Officer Paul Straub spoke to the significance and drivers of this decision, saying, “Our move to Two Commerce Square reflects our sustained commitment to the City of Brotherly Love. We wanted a vibrant and central location, convenient to major transit hubs and highways, offering a flexible workspace that accommodates the realities of a hybrid work environment. Two Commerce Square delivered all that and more to us... We were so impressed with the offerings and opportunities available to us at Two Commerce Square. It provided the perfect blend of geography, amenities, building quality, available space and price point.”
A rendering of Fox Rothschild’s new office at Commerce Square, designed by FCA Architects.
Beyond the conveniences of locating in Center City, advertising agency LevLane, which recently moved into its new space at Logan Square, cited the vibrancy of the location as a deciding factor. “We felt the culture of the Logan Square area matched the culture of the agency – fresh, lively, upbeat,” said Liz Weir, Chief Marketing Officer at LevLane.
LevLane’s new space at One Logan Square balances areas for social connection with spaces for private meetings.
In University City, Global law firm Goodwin announced in 2023 it will expand its footprint in Philadelphia, taking 31,500 square feet at 3025 JFK. For Goodwin, the location not only provides access to 30th Street Station but will allow the firm to “do business at the intersection of capital and innovation,” according to Barbara Shander and Rachael Bushey, co-chairs of Goodwin’s Philadelphia office. Of the location, Bushey told the Philadelphia Business Journal, “We're excited because it's what we think is the up-and-coming area of Philadelphia. There's a lot of new life sciences companies going there and it's just a hot area that will attract a lot of talent and allow us to be close to our clients.”
Places for People
With a prime location secured, companies are then faced with the daunting task of designing an office that serves the nuanced needs of the business and its employees. Of Gensler’s approach, Pileggi notes, “When designing offices for our clients and for our own firm, we also come from the approach of making the office a destination, not an obligation.” To accomplish that goal, Gensler considered the many functions of its office – a place to drop in between construction site visits, host clients, focus on heads-down work, converse and collaborate, and everything in between. “One office can be all of these things, and we’re proud to have achieved that with our expansion,” said Pileggi.
Goodwin, which entered the Philadelphia market in 2023 with 14 attorneys and has grown to close to 40, is equally focused on creating a best-in-class environment for its employees and clients. “With the move to 3025 JFK Blvd, we are expanding our footprint in the city for the benefit of our current and future clients doing business at the intersection of capital and innovation, and for the benefit of our talent – our lawyers and business professionals – who will have a modern, collaborative, and innovative office space to call their home base.”
A rendering of the lobby in Turner Construction’s new office in Commerce Square.
Of Turner’s approach, Kaminski said, “Having your team glued to their desks is not how we want our office to feel. We want to invite them to move around and work together in different configurations.” Similarly, Levlane’s office was designed with collaboration in mind. “You’ll find lots of “living room” types of spaces for people to meet, booths for smaller conversations, a bar area for social connection, and breakout rooms for private meetings. It’s a great mix of spaces for a variety of uses, which was really the goal behind the design,” said Weir.
Trust & Stability Amidst Uncertainty
In addition to a prime location and best-in-class design, tenants are seeking stable landlords who can act as their long-term workplace partner. In an uncertain market, some of the nation’s most prominent real estate leaders, including Brandywine, are benefiting from financial stability, trusted brand and reputation, and a flexible platform to accommodate the emerging next-generation workplace. As an integrated company, Brandywine offers in-house leasing, design services, and on-site property management and engineering teams to ensure a best-in-class customer service experience at every level. Doug Simon, Principal at Tactix and Fox Rothschild’s tenant representative, underscored this theme, saying, “Brandywine has a great local reputation, is financially capable of delivering on its promises, and stated simply, runs a great building. Fox was executing a long-term lease that required a capital-intensive buildout and it was crucial to the Firm to partner with a Landlord that, in addition to providing aggressive financial terms, understood its goals and objectives and had the requisite people, integrity, and financial means to meet them.”
Of Fox Rothschild’s experience working with Brandywine to navigate the company’s momentous decision to relocate, McKenna said, “Brandywine has been a strategic collaborator, attentive listener, and trusted partner throughout this process. This move was an enormous undertaking and a significant cultural change for us, and Brandywine has made the transition seamless…They were unfailingly responsive to our needs, priorities and goals and helped us bring them all to fruition. They were with us at every step – from tours to lease review, pre-construction, and beyond.”
For extended conversations with the leaders featured in this article and many more, stay tuned for Brandywine’s forthcoming content series, “Beyond Boundaries," which will feature conversations with tenants around how they are going beyond the boundaries of their physical space to achieve business success, create impact, build brand, foster culture, and more, launching soon.
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