Real Estate Journal — Pennsylvania — May 16 - 29, 2014 — 13C
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M id A tlantic
PA’ s P rojects & B uilding S ervices By Timothy Brennan, PE, Nave Newell, Inc. A repositioning renaissance
T
o quote Mark Twain, “The reports ofmy death have been greatly exag-
developer agreements to deliver the space ona specific, generally very short timeline, leaves no room for error in the design and entitlement process. Once the Aegon property in Malvern was selected for the new, 320,000 sf Saint-Gobain’s U.S. Head- quarters, the clock was ticking to get this $80 million-plus fixer-upper under construction. Nave Newell’s strong relation- ships and close coordination with DEP, Township officials and the developer, led to land development approvals and an NPDES permit within a Special Protection Watershed in less than 3 months.
sewer capacity - all leading to higher design, permitting and construction costs. Increased parking demand makes the puzzle of redeveloping existing buildings tougher to manage, requiring lots of creativity from a planning, zoning and storm- water management perspec- tive. Tackling these challenges requires your civil engineer to work closely, early onwithState DEP and Conservation District officials to gain quick consensus on the design and permitting approach. The Future Like every other aspect of business inour fast-pacedworld,
change is the new constant. Owners will need to embrace this idea and continuously eval- uate their properties. So while, commercial real estate isn’t back to what it was in 2007, it is certainlymakinga resurgence tomeet the demands of the ever- changingworkforce. Thekeywill be embracing site consultants that have stayed ahead of the regulations and use their rela- tionships to successfully navi- gate even the most challenging projects through entitlements and construction. Timothy J. Brennan, PE is a principal at Nave Newell, Inc. n
Challenges and Solutions NaveNewell projectmanagers Nick Rakowski, PE and Alex Tweedie, PE have been suc- cessfully balancing developer needs vs. entitlement process on these projects. All of this at a time when developer needs are coming head to head with new regulations for stormwater and ADA design, as well as sewer capacity constraints. Couple tougher regulations with office design trends that decrease square-footage per employee and you are looking at increased parking demand and impervious coverage along with the need for additional
gerated.” In the case of the commercial office market, recent growth projections clearlydidnot account for some regional hot spots.
Timothy Brennan
Route 202 Corridor The Route 202 corridor in Chester County, PA with its large inventory of vintage 1970’s era architecture has recently seen a renaissance of redevel- opment. With infrastructure improvements including the addition of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Route 29 (Great Val- ley) Interchange and Route 202 widening, more companies are now considering locating to the region particularly be- tween Great Valley and King of Prussia. This is evidenced by Liberty Property Trust’s new 3 QuarryRidge, their redeveloped 1 Country View, and The Davis Companies/MIM-Haydenrecent completionof CrossPoint atVal- leyForge onSwedesfordRoad in Tredyffrin Township. Trends Marked by pockets of vacan- cies, owners and developers are evaluating each building to figure out what meets to- day’s needs, what will attract tenants, accommodate today’s workers and generate higher rents. Every piece of vintage real estate ultimately reaches a degree of functional obsoles- cence whether due to prefer- ence trends or new regulations. Rather than complete ground up reconstructions, companies are investing in rehabilitation, where buildings are gutted, re-skinned and upgraded with improved mechanical systems, lobbies, common areas, court- yards, landscaping and denser parking. LibertyPropertyTrust just constructedanewtwo-story, 55,000 sf building on an existing footprint. TheDavisCompanies/ MIM-Hayden recently com- pleted a total overhaul of their two-building complexat 530-580 Swedesford Road, spending $19 million to form one, contiguous 272,000 sf corporate center with a slew of amenities. The days of building with confidence that leases will then follow are gone. Developers are now more in tune with potential tenants as they enter construction. More demanding
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