Brandywine Realty Trust has sold a tract in downtown Wilmington for $6.5 million.
The buyer of the 1.6-acre development site is at the corner of 2nd, and King streets was not identified. The site is now being used as a parking lot.
Paul Hartwick, a spokesman for JPMorganChase said he had “no comment at this time” on a sale. The company owns the Christina Gateway buildings next door and a building just to the north.
The News Journal reported that JPMorgan Chase was the buyer.
Earlier this year, JPMorgan Chase earlier announced plans to upgrade the two nearby office buildings as part of a capital improvement project throughout its footprint in northern Delaware that could cost between $150 to $300 million.
The company employs more than 8,000, with that number likely to rise to about 10,000 in coming years. The Christina Gateway site is fully occupied, with many staffers using remote parking areas.
Renovations at sites could lead to temporary transfers of employees, with JPMorgan Chase using leased space at its White Clay complex near Newark during the renovation period.
The downtown site had long been envisioned as the location of a corporate headquarters that would complete the Christina Gateway development, with a project known as 2 Christina Gateway. A story in a Northeast Real Estate Business in 2005 indicated that the project would feature the work of a well-known architect and a 20-story building at the site.
The property is a short walk to the Wilmington Train Station, which is seeing more SEPTA service to and from Philadelphia.
Of late, interest in the area has perked up with the growth of LOMA (lower Market Street), an area with residential and some retail space.
King Street has also seen activity with the Renaissance Centre at Fourth and King seeing a high occupancy rate, renovation work getting under way at Courthouse Square, (the Alico building at 6th and King, and the purchase of the One Customs House at 7th and King to a company that wants to add technical support jobs in the city.
A couple of years ago, JPMorgan Chase bought the two Christina Gateway office towers adjacent to the former Brandywine property. Chase has the headquarters of its credit card operations at the site.
It also purchased the former AstraZeneca South Campus near Wilmington. That site is now a technology hub for the company. That site has available land for further expansion.
Brandywine has sold off holdings in Delaware over the years, including two suburban office parks that were acquired by Buccini/Pollin Group.
Brandywine still lists the 300 Delaware Avenue and One Rodney Square office buildings in downtown Wilmington in its portfolio.
The Second and King sale was one of a number of transactions announced by Brandywine in the Philadelphia area.
“The transactions reinforce our stated goals of funding our development pipeline and further improving our financial capacity through accelerated dispositions,” stated Gerard H. Sweeney, CEO of Brandywine Realty Trust. “As evidenced by these transactions, the current investment market remains strong and, consistent with our 2016 guidance, we anticipate additional sales between now and the first half of 2016.”
