Craig Scheuerle, SVP of the local office of Grubb & Ellis, tells GlobeSt.com the building is Viacom's "first choice." Scheuerle and VPs Dan Brogan and Jim Egan are representing the broadcaster in its search for new space following expiration of its lease of approximately 80,000 sf at 101 S. Independence Mall.

Scheuerle says, "lease preparations are under way with Pulver for 100,000 sf, half of the building, for a 20-year term. Approvals are ready," Scheuele says, and Pulver is finalizing development and funding plans for an eight-story, 200,000-sf building.

The Grubb & Ellis team has explored alternatives. Chief among them, Scheuerle says, are build-to-suits in Camden, NJ and Conshohocken, and space in Centre Square and Ten Penn Center here. "A build-to-suit is our preference," he says, "because the tenant requires a 25-foot clearance for studios and 15-foot clearance for technical areas." He declined to reveal a value of the lease and said lease negotiations do include naming the building for the tenant.

Calls to Esther Pulver, the developer's VP of marketing, were not returned by deadline. When construction of the building was introduced as headquarters for Towers Perrin, however, Pulver said the design was expandable to as much as 400,000 sf over 17 stories, which is allowable for the site, and the exact size was to be determined depending on lease-up potential.

It would be the third new office building in Center City following more than a decade of no new office construction. Brandywine Realty Trust's 28-story, 728,000-sf Cira Centre ended the drought when it broke ground last year, and Liberty Property Trust's 57-story, 1.2-million-sf Comcast Center finally just got under way. At the end of fourth quarter 2004, the CBD office vacancy rate stood at 16%, its highest since 1995, according to Grubb & Ellis data, and the arrow points up as space in the new buildings comes online.

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