CHOP, which relocated its administrative offices from University City to the Wanamaker Building in mid-September 2005, now expands to 175,500 sf. Both agreements are for seven years. Toronto-based IPC US REIT manages and has a 60% ownership interest in the 12-story, class A property in partnership with locally based Amerimar Enterprises. Stephen Gleason of Amerimar and Sid Smith and William Finnegan of GVA Smith Mack represented the owner. David Ricci and Michael Gallagher of the Flynn Co., also based here, represented the tenant.

The aggregate value of the lease is undisclosed. GVA Smith Mack lists the asking rental rate for the building at $22 per sf. When ABFS, once lured to the CBD from the suburbs with a package of generous incentives from the City, filed for bankruptcy, it left a 250,000-sf hole in the building. With the signing of CHOP's expanded lease, says Vinay Kapoor, president and CEO of IPC, "we have released approximately 90% of this space in only eight months."

In a separate transaction, Jim Egan, VP, and Ken Clyman, associate VP in the local office of Grubb & Ellis, negotiated the lease for MarketLab's executive offices and call center, making the Wanamaker Building headquarters for its Focus Pointe branded focus group activities. At the same time, the G&E partners also negotiated a MarketLab lease for 11,000 sf at Two Logan Square and worked with G&E brokers nationwide to fulfill the company's space requirements in other US markets, including Los Angeles, Atlanta and New York City.

Locally based MarketLab has expanded from a single office here to operations in 10 US markets and affiliations abroad. The Wanamaker Building provided "a substantial image upgrade," Egan says, while also meeting the company's needs for accessibility and parking for its clients and market research respondents.