One of the last remaining major Downtown tenants with a lease up for renewal, Sunoco opted in July to keep its corporate headquarters in Center City, but relocate from Ten Penn Center at 1801 Market St., which is owned by locally based Rubenstein Co., to Mellon Bank Center at 1735 Market St., which is owned by Newton, MA-based HRPT Properties Trust.

At the time, discussions regarding the second (operations center) space were still under way, according to Sal Ambrosio, president and founder of Radnor-based Tactix Real Estate Advisors, who negotiated both the Mellon Center and 1818 Market St. leases for Sunoco. Whitney Hunter and Josh Sloan of the local office of Jones Lang LaSalle are leasing agents for 1818 Market St/ and spoke for the owner, Stamford, CT-based Ashforth Co.

As with the 221,000-sf Mellon Center lease, terms are undisclosed. While declining to elaborate on the rental rate or term, Hunter tells GlobeSt.com, "It's a long-term commitment to the building. Sunoco will occupy the entire 15th floor and half of the 14th floor," he says. This lease takes 1818 Market St. to 94% occupancy, Hunter adds.

According to third-quarter data from the local offices of CB Richard Ellis and Cushman & Wakefield, the average asking rental rate for class A office space in the Market West submarket is $24.80 per sf and $27.06 per sf, respectively. Jones Lang LaSalle's third-quarter report puts the average asking rate for class A office space in the overall CBD at $24.12 per sf as does the current Grubb & Ellis report. All of these reports, however, note that effective rates are significantly below the asking rates.

Since 1980, Sunoco had offices at Ten Penn Center, a building that was developed by Radnor Corp., a Sunoco subsidiary. In 1991, Sunoco relocated its headquarters there from Radnor Corporate Center in Radnor.