The centerpiece of the larger Radnor Financial Center is 555 Lancaster Ave., a 242,000-sf building initially constructed as Sears headquarters in the 1970s and later fully occupied by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, which exited prior to Brandywine's purchase. The building is undergoing a renovation that David S. Ryder, SVP of Brandywine's western region, tells GlobeSt.com, "includes $15 million in base-building renovation and up to $10 million more in specific tenant finishes." Building renovations include a two-story atrium lobby, new ceiling heights, replacement of glass curtain walls, new HVAC, landscaping, lighting and other upgrades. "We are repositioning the building into a mixed-use retail and multi-tenant office flagship for both Radnor complexes."

With the signing of a 57,000-sf lease by Aon Corp., "the building is 45% preleased," Ryder says, "and it allows us to push up rents to between $30 per sf and $32 per sf." Suzanna Foo, an upscale Philadelphia restaurant, is leasing about 7,500 sf on the ground level, joining a 42,000-sf Philadelphia Sports Club facility that just inked a lease valued at $13 million. Ryder says he is seeking another restaurant "of similar size and caliber."

At the end of September, the center's 251,000-sf office building at 201 King of Prussia Rd. was 35% leased, according to Ryder, at rates of between $26.50 per sf and $28.50 per sf, which he says is the asking rate for all but 555 Lancaster Ave. in this complex and for space in the neighboring Radnor Corporate Center. This center also includes buildings at 130, 150 and 170 Radnor-Chester Rd. The 71,350-sf 130 building is 32% leased, and the 69,800-sf property at 170 is vacant. They flank 150, a structure of six connected buildings aggregating 335,450 sf, and it was 50% leased at the end of third quarter.

The five buildings in Radnor Corporate Center, once the headquarters of Sun Oil Co. (now Sunoco), which relocated to Center City Philadelphia, aggregate 735,000 sf. Among the recent agreements is a 60,884-sf renewal by Covance, which was represented by Derek Wood of Tactix Real Estate; a renewal for 13,167 sf by Highway to Health, which was represented by Andrew Spillard of CB Richard Ellis, and new leases for an aggregate of nearly 16,000 sf from Sodexho and Penn Virginia Corp.

"The Corporate Center is now 80% occupied," Ryder says, adding, "our pipeline of leasing proposals for both centers is strong." While claiming, "Brandywine properties traditionally outperform the market," he attributes the recent activity in this suburb to a strengthening economy and "increased demand for office space all across the western region. There's very little new office construction, which adds to the tightening of the market."