The News Journal is reporting that the AstraZeneca tower off Concord Pike has been sold to a company headed by banker Rocco Abessinio for $10.5 million.
The 15-story building was long known as the headquarters of the Rollins family of companies It was later purchased by Buccini/Pollin Group of Wilmington and then sold to AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca had the 60s and 70s style high-rise repainted from white to reddish brown to better blend in with the architecture at its office campus.
The building has been on the market since AZ downsized its operations as patents expired on its blockbuster drugs. The company is eliminating another 1,200 jobs in the next couple of years as some functions are moved to Gaithersburg, Md.
Abessinio founded Applied Card Systems, which offered sub-prime credit cards to those with lower credit ratings and Cross Country Bank. The company currently has servicing operations in nearby Glen Mills, Pa., as well as Boca Raton, Fla., and according to the News Journal story might move operations to the site.
Also affiliated with Applied Card Systems is Applied Bank, a Delaware-based full-service bank with offices in Newark and Rehoboth Beach.
Applied has been active in commercial lending in Delaware. It was honored last year for having the highest dollar volume for Small Business Administration loans.
Abessinio’s company, Roch Managment, has other real estate holdings in the Delaware area and Florida according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The sale comes amid signs of a gradual recovery of the office leasing market in northern Delaware.
