In January, wooed by incentives, AAA decided to exit Center City and relocate its regional headquarters to a building under construction in Wilmington, DE. Turchi says it will continue to occupy the Market Street building for 18 months under a leaseback agreement. "We're in negotiations with some other companies to pick up the space when AAA leaves," he says, adding, "they are all national companies," and all currently based in Philadelphia.

The class A building was completed in 1968. It features floor-to-ceiling windows, a fully equipped cafeteria, computer room, rooftop signage and on-site parking. "We see it as an excellent location for a growing business that wants to consolidate into a single, high-profile building in Center City or for a national firm that wants to move or establish a regional headquarters here," Turchi says.

He notes that it is within walking distance of 30th Street Station and Brandywine's new Cira Centre tower as well as the planned redevelopment of the Schuylkill River corridor over the next 10 years. It is also within three blocks of 23: A Condominium, which is the former AAA parking garage at 23 South 23rd St. that Turchi converted into an 80-unit luxury residential condo.

When Turchi acquired the garage from AAA, he told Michael Kennedy, senior managing director of the local office of Studley, who represented AAA in that sale, that he'd also be interested in the office building. "True to his word," Turchi says, "Kennedy let me know it was available."

Kennedy, in cooperation with Roby Bull and Phil Lipper of Studley's New Jersey office and Charlie Henyon and Lawson Wilder of its Virginia office, represented AAA in the office property sale negotiations. Turchi represented his company in the transaction. He handed the leasing assignment to Kevin D. Flynn and Michael Gallagher of locally based Flynn Co. Neither Turchi nor the leasing team disclosed the rental rate. "It isn't established yet and will depend on the amount of work a new tenant requires," Turchi says.

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Turchi Pays $11M for AAA's Market Street HQ

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