Rockefeller Group, PCCP to Build Philly Industrial Campus

Rockefeller Group Logistics Center at Roosevelt Boulevard will total 656,904 square feet. Image courtesy of Rockefeller Group

Rockefeller Group has entered into a joint venture partnership with PCCP LLC for the construction of Rockefeller Group Logistics Center at Roosevelt Boulevard, a two-building, 656,904-square-foot industrial project in Philadelphia. The development team includes IMC Construction as general contractor, NORR as architect of record and Pennoni Associates as civil engineer.

The companies purchased the project’s 50.4-acre site from Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp., the city’s public-private economic development organization. The partners represented themselves in the land acquisition; CBRE provided advisory services during negotiations and has been retained as exclusive leasing agent for the project.

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This will be Rockefeller Group’s first industrial development in Philadelphia, where there is old industrial product and a growing demand for new Class A space, said Vice President & Regional Director Heath Abramsohn in prepared remarks. The industrial campus will comprise two buildings of 318,696 and 338,208 square feet, respectively.

Rockefeller Group Logistics Center at Roosevelt Boulevard will take shape at 1500 Roosevelt Blvd., on the site of the former Byberry State Hospital. The location is 5 miles from Northeast Philadelphia Airport, 15 miles from Trenton, N.J., 21 miles from downtown Philadelphia and within 47 miles of Wilmington, Del.

CBRE’s team of Mike Hines and Brad Ruppel advised the joint venture partners during the land acquisition, while the company’s Drew Green, Paul Touhey and Mike Mullen will serve as the property’s leasing agents.

Philly leading the Northeast for industrial development

Philadelphia continues to lead the major northeastern markets for industrial pipeline size, according to a recent CommercialEdge report. The metro had 11 million square feet underway as of October, being followed by New Jersey (7.3 million square feet), Bridgeport (3.4 million square feet) and Boston (2.3 million square feet).

One major development in the area is Hilco Redevelopment Partners’ 1,300-acre, $4 billion Bellwether District project in South Philadelphia, that broke ground in October. Plans call for a 14 million-square-foot campus set to include life sciences, industrial and logistics space.

Other projects include Sansone and Crow Holdings Capital’s Tac-Pal Logistics Center in Palmyra, N.J. The partnership recently received $102 million in construction financing for the development’s second phase, slated to include a 700,000-square-foot industrial building.