Through the Governor's Action Team, the state provided an incentive package in excess of $1.3 million for the move. While creating and retaining more than 470 jobs, the relocation also contributes to the revitalization of Bristol, a former whaling village, which is being undertaken by Bucks County Redevelopment Authority and other area agencies.

"We expect to improve productivity by having our design, product development, administrative, sales and marketing functions under one roof in a first-class facility," says Susan Engel, chairwoman and CEO of Lenox Group Inc., parent of Lenox Inc. The search for a new headquarters began last summer in conjunction with the acquisition of Lenox by Eden Prairie, MN-based Department 56, which was then renamed Lenox Group Inc. Lenox will move into the new facility this May.

Industrialist W. Averell Harriman constructed the building in the 1920s. It was once owned by Kaiser Aluminum for the manufacture of aluminum seaplanes and later became the Dial Soap factory. Conshohocken-based Preferred Real Estate Investments acquired it three years ago and completely renovated into class A office space. Mike O'Neill, Preferred's founder and CEO, tells GlobeSt.com the aggregate value of the Lenox transaction is "about $29 million."

The site "is typical of what we do," he says, calling his company's brownfields development efforts "a Swiss cheese strategy of filling real estate holes." He called the Lenox deal "a major coup…a huge victory for the community of Bristol that will fill a vacancy in the community and breathe vitality back into the region." Strategic Distribution Inc. occupies approximately 20,000 sf in the building, leaving about 35,000 sf vacant. The rental rate is "in the high teens per sf," O'Neill says.

Initially, Preferred planned to construct two additional 90,000-sf office buildings on the Island View site, but recently obtain rezoning for residential development. O'Neill says Preferred will chose a development partner, "probably a national company," to construct approximately 300 attached townhouse units. "We plan to break ground this spring."