Post-Setback Business Looking More Buoyant At Philadelphia Naval Business Center Despite a recent major setback, new business development continues apace at the historic Philadelphia Naval Business Center (PNBC at www.pidc-pa.org). Formerly the Philadelphia Naval Base, the PNBC spans 1,100 acres of well-positioned property, an expanse that's comparable to the size of center-city Philadelphia. Philadelphia Mayor Edward Rendell (www.phila.gov) recently announced more than $27 million in new projects and development inside the PNBC, which currently has 30 tenants and more than one million sq. ft. of property under lease. Rendell has announced that the Vitetta Group, a major architectural and engineering services firm in Philadelphia, is later this summer opening its national headquarters in the historic former Marine Barracks Building off Broad Street that overlooks the Marine Parade Grounds. Vitetta Group will be the PNBC's first major office user after it completes its historic re-hab, which will create a headquarters facility that will house 150 employees. In addition, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge (www.state.pa.us) has designated 128 acres of the PNBC as part of Philadelphia's Keystone Opportunity Zone (KOZ). Qualified firms that move to one of the state's designated KOZ zones are exempt from paying local and state business taxes until Dec. 31, 2010. The 128 acres that Ridge designated at PNBC include 51 acres of built-to-suit office development, plus 16 industrial buildings within the Shipyard and Girard Point sections of the center that total nearly 1.2 million sq. ft.. And in late June, Rendell and other local dignitaries christened the PNBC Marketing Center, which is located in the former "Quarters A," a property built around 1875 and listed as a national historic landmark. Quarters A was built after President Lincoln commissioned the Navy to move from its location at the foot of Front Street to South Broad Street. The Base Commander lived in the mansion while overseeing the construction of the rest of the base.
The good news for the PNBC comes after an earlier major downturn, when the widely ballyhooed Kvaerner Philadelphia Shipyard went into limbo after Kvaerner decided to sell off its shipbuilding business. The U.S. Navy closed the storied, 196-year-old Philadelphia yard in 1995 after it reached its peak employment of 4,000 in the early 1990s. Philadelphia then won out over stiff national and international competition to land the Kvaerner project, which would likely have produced a minimum of 1,000 jobs, with numerous other supplier jobs. The most recent events at the PNBC mark something of an attitudinal rebound for the city that was the birthplace of U.S. shipbuilding. "It is fitting that we celebrate our past successes as well as announce our most recent achievements right here, at the first building to be erected in this magnificent complex," Mayor Rendell said at the PNBC Marketing Center's opening.
Also auguring well for the PNBC's future are number of other developments, including: Roadway Development: Design has begun for a new roadway, League Island Boulevard, which will be north of the PNBC's main gate. The road will open access to the Commerce Center and Distribution Center. Demolition and site clearance will start this August, with the expected completion date in late 2000. Housing Rehabilitation: Five Delaware River waterfront houses that had been housing for senior navy officials are now being renovated. The houses are being converted to office space and will be available for occupancy by January 2000. Intermodal Rail Development: Norfolk Southern Railroad, the Delaware River Port Authority and the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. (www.pidc-pa.org) are working to finalize a $12 million intermodal yard. In addition, CP Rail, which has an existing operation at PNBC, is in the midst of a $1 million rehabilitation project. The rail improvements will make PNBC a central location for distribution-related companies, says Rendell.
The recent spate of activity at the old Philadelphia base is due in great part to the signing in April of a landmark purchase agreement between the U.S. Navy and Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. (PIDC), says PIDC President William Hankowsky. That agreement, which took more than three years to finalize, paves the way for the Navy to transfer title of the base to the PIDC. Its immediate effect, Hankowsky says, is to give the PIDC the capability to enter into long-term leases with tenants and to confer jurisdictional responsibilities that can lead to facilitation of projects with private-sector firms. "The signing of this agreement exponentially increases our ability to keep and attract business tenants to the Business Center," said Hankowsky, "It significantly increases the number and variety of tools we have at our disposal to market the entire base to a variety of clients," he added. Hankowsky also praised the efforts of Julie Van Nostern, senior vice president of PIDC's Office of Defense Conversion, for her major role in delivering the signed agreement.
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