Pitcairn partnered with Frankfurt, Germany-based SEBImmobilien-Investment GmbH, in the acquisition. This is Pitcairn'sfirst JV with the open-ended real estate fund, but possibly not itslast. Mekkawy says the partnership plans more acquisitions "on theEast Coast." He declined to disclose each entity's proportion ofownership. Pitcairn now has a portfolio valued at $1 billion.

This transaction is the largest in the suburban Philadelphiaoffice market since Brandywine acquired Rubenstein Co.'s3.5-million-sf office portfolio for $600 million in September 2004.The Chesterbrook portion of the acquisition contains 13 buildingsaggregating about a million sf. Glenhardie is a four-buildingcomplex of more than 250,000 sf. The portfolio is currently 82%leased. Dan Dagit, SVP in the local office of CB Richard Ellis, ishandling leasing, and he tells GlobeSt.com, "the asking rates inChesterbrook are in the mid $20s per sf, and rates in Glenhardieare in the low $20s per sf."

The seller, locally based Fox Realty Co., developed the centersin the 1970s and 1980s. It later sold them only to reacquire themin partnership with the State of Florida Pension Fund in 1997,according to Robert Lee, EVP of Fox. Fox, which is headquartered inChesterbrook, is retaining two buildings on the campus that are nota part of the portfolio.