PRP Invests in Office Component at $325M Philadelphia-Area Development

AmerisourceBergen’s future headquarters at SORA West in Conshohocken, Pa. Image courtesy of Keystone Property Group

PRP LLC has closed on a preferred equity investment in the new trophy office tower at Keystone Property Group’s $325 million SORA West mixed-use development in Conshohocken, Pa. The approximately 430,000-square-foot building will be the new headquarters of pharmaceutical products company AmerisourceBergen. Neither PRP nor Keystone commented on the financial terms of the transaction. However, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal, PRP purchased an 89 percent equity stake in the property at a cost of just under $340 million.

Keystone broke ground on the office building that will anchor the transit-oriented SORA West development in April 2019 and topped out on the 12-story tower in February 2020. The Gensler-designed structure will feature a rooftop terrace, fitness center, dining services, training center and community plaza, as well as two lower levels of parking.

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“PRP’s main investment objective is to acquire long-term leased, single-tenant office and industrial properties nationwide. SORA West is a brand-new, state-of-the-art headquarters campus with a long-term full-building lease in place with AmerisourceBergen,” Joseph Neckles, managing director of net lease acquisitions with PRP LLC, told Commercial Property Executive.

“AmerisourceBergen is the largest company in the State of Pennsylvania by revenue and one of the ten largest public companies in the U.S. They are a high investment grade credit tenant with a long and stable operating history. This transaction is a perfect fit for PRP’s investment objectives,” Neckles added. Eastdil Secured served in an advisory capacity to PRP in the transaction with Keystone.

Upon completion of the LEED Silver-certified office digs at SORA West, AmerisourceBergen will relocate from its current 200,000-square-foot home base in Chesterbrook and an additional 100,000-square-foot space at another location in Conshohocken. Intech Construction is the general contractor on the project and is on track to deliver the project later in 2021.

Finger on the pulse

Approximately 1,500 AmerisourceBergen employees will call the office building at SORA West home. And ultimately, the workers will be at the heart of a mixed-use destination that will also encompass the 127-key Tapestry Collection by Hilton hotel called Hotel West + Main, an amphitheater, a public plaza, a 1,500-space public-private parking facility and a repurposed historic firehouse with dining on the first floor and a gastropub on the second.  

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“As the vaccine works its way through the population, we feel confident that employees will be called back to the office. AmerisourceBergen associates will return to a brand-new, world-class workplace within a dynamic live/work/play environment,” Neckles said. “The historic firehouse on-site will become a dining and entertainment venue; the new hotel will be a luxury experience with a high-end rooftop cocktail lounge (…) It will be an exciting workplace and lifestyle for employees to return to.”

Just as PRP saw the value in a certain office project in Conshohocken, the company homed in on the advantage of a multifamily project in suburban Washington, D.C. In January 2021, PRP closed the non-recourse construction loan for the conversion of the office property at 4900 Seminary Road in Alexandria, Va., to a 213-unit luxury apartment community. The property, located across from a transit center, sits roughly 5 miles from Amazon’s HQ2 office campus.