CBS Sister Stations Relocate to 120,000 SF on Spring Garden Street

The tenant has commissioned locally based Hillier architects to design its new offices and studio space in a renovation that requires breaking through a portion of the sixth floor to accommodate two 30-foot-high television studios. It will also provide a private entrance, office space with skylights, public meeting space and satellite facilities.

Michael Colleran, CBS 3's president and general manager, tells GlobeSt.com the company had outgrown its headquarters at 101 S. Independence Mall, and the search for new real estate spanned nearly two years. "The first consideration was to stay in the city." The company also needed easy roadway access and parking space for its newsgathering vehicles as well as the ability to accommodate state-of-the-art communications systems. He declined to disclose the cost of Hilliers' renovation.

Locally based Amerimar Enterprises acquired the one-million-sf former Smith Kline pharmaceutical plant in 2000. "We converted it into a class A facility specifically designed for the burgeoning telecommunications industries," Andrew Bleznak, VP of Amerimar, tells GlobeSt.com, "and then came the tech bust." He says the cost of converting and renovating the building, which was built in 1908, exceeded $100 million. He declined to discuss rent rates, "because there's a large span, depending on the specific kinds of space available."

The buildings' redundant technological capabilities are among the reasons for CBS 3's decision along with the location in an area that Colleran calls "a piping hot part of town." Its lease takes occupancy to 400,000 sf, according to Bleznak. Other tenants are Independence Blue Cross, One Beacon Insurance and North American Publishing. Quiznos and Dunkin Donuts lease space in the 10,000-sf ground-floor retail, and another food tenant is on the way, Boeznak says, noting that these tenants are a consequence of the abundance of residential development under way in the area.

CBS 3 has been broadcasting from its Independence Mall studios since 1972. UPN 57 joined the station in 2000, and the company now occupies additional space in the nearby Bourse Building. Craig Scheuerle, SVP; James Egan, VP, and Dan Brogan of the local office of Grubb & Ellis represented the tenant, which expects to occupy the space in March 2007. George Cauffman and Joe Wolff, SVPs in CB Richard Ellis' Downtown office, represented Amerimar.