Campbell Soup to Expand at 750 KSF New Jersey HQ

1 Campbell Center, snacks division concept rendering. Image courtesy of Campbell Soup Co.

Campbell Soup Co.’s 750,000-square-foot headquarters campus in Camden, N.J., will soon undergo an expansion for the first time in more than a decade. The food and beverage company will submit the Camden site to a $50 million enhancement program to accommodate the consolidation of its snacks division offices in Charlotte, N.C., and Norwalk, Conn.

Campbell, a fixture in Camden since 1869, has called the campus at 1 Campbell Center its global headquarters since 1957. The company is dedicated not just to the city but also to its approximately 40-acre site, which houses offices, research & development and training space. When planning the consolidation, Campbell gave no consideration to relocating to a newer and larger facility in the area, a spokesperson for Campbell Soup Co. told Commercial Property Executive.

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Campbell’s rationale for combining its snacks division with its meals & beverages division under one metaphorical roof at the headquarters campus is twofold; the move will bolster connectivity and collaboration, and it will ultimately yield cost savings of $10 million annually.

1 Campbell Center, snacks division concept rendering. Image courtesy of Campbell Soup Co.

Although Campbell has not disclosed the amount of square footage it will add to its Camden facilities, the company has revealed that the expansion will involve the development of a new campus center, a research & development facility and a pilot plant. Certain existing areas of the complex—workspaces, meeting rooms and communal spaces, to name a few—will also get a makeover as part of the enhancement program. And keeping in line with the national office sector’s commitment to quality accommodations in a bid to attract and retain top talent, Campbell will add and enhance a bevy of onsite amenities, ranging from a café to a day care center.

Real estate moves

While Campbell leases a collection of distribution centers across the U.S., the company also owns a bevy of properties, including the office facilities that will be closing in Charlotte and Norwalk. The company’s vacating of the buildings will do little to mitigate the aforementioned office markets’ struggles to return to pre-pandemic health.

Conference center courtyard rendering at 1 Campbell Center. Image courtesy of Campbell Soup Co.

According to fourth quarter 2022 research by JLL, both the Charlotte and Fairfield County office markets experienced mixed results in 2022. Charlotte closed the year with a total average vacancy rate of 18.9 percent, and Norwalk recorded a total vacancy rate of 34.6 percent.

Campbell plans to commence construction of the Camden headquarters expansion in March 2023. The approximately 1,600 employees from the company’s Charlotte and Norwalk offices will have ample elbow room at the Camden headquarters and will make a phased relocation to the site beginning midyear. According to the Campbell spokesperson, the company currently has no plans for further office consolidations.