Liberty's priority right now, however, is in its home territory of Philly, where its 1.3-million-sq.-ft. (120-770-sq.-m.) One Pennsylvania Plaza project, projected to be the primary home of Comcast Corp., has seen a fury of protest over the proposed Keyston e Opportunity Improvement Zone (KOIZ) benefits Comcast would have reaped.
      On July 5, the state legislature altered the law slightly, passing a revised bill that created a "First Class Cities Economic Development District," which contains modifications to the KOIZ program with limitations on the benefits and eligibility. In order to be enacted, this revised bill must also be passed by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, which reconvenes in September.
      As stated in its earnings report, "Liberty and the project's prospective lead tenant, Comcast Corporation, are currently reviewing the bill, the resultant timing impact and other factors to determine the project's structure and feasibility."

The Circle of Jobs Creation

Midway between the state capital of Harrisburg and Lancaster, Greenville, Wis.-based educational product maker and marketer School Specialty Inc. is building a new $14-million 400,000-sq.-ft. (37,160-sq.-m.) warehouse and distribution center that will also be the home of its subsidiary, Childcraft Education Corp.       The project will add 100 jobs to the current payroll of 150, and will receive an incentives package totaling just over $1 million. The Childcraft move will enable the subsidiary to vacate two leases in the area. What's more, says School Specialty Executive Vice President and CFO Mary Kabacinski, the company will invest $6 million to $7 million in new equipment at the site.       The new facility comes directly on the heels of the April 2004 arrival of Paul Deal as School Specialty's new executive vice president for supply chain. He brings to the job 20 years of experience with Chicago-based in-dustrial supply distributor McMaster-Carr Supply Co. and an expertise in optimization through centralized distribution operations.       Meanwhile, the company's continued success is based, oddly enough, on corporate growth not unlike its own.       "We believe the K-12 funding environment is improving with the majority of state budgets seeing the benefits of tax receipts trending higher than expectations," said School Specialty President and CEO David Vander Zanden in a June 2004 earnings report. "The pace of new jobs creation continues to provide states with higher levels of tax revenue, along with higher corporate tax payments. We expect our results to reflect this increased spending on schools in fiscal 2005."

      The metro area's HQ heft has not faltered. That point was driven home in mid-August 2004 with Merck & Co.'s announcement of a $200-million headquarters for its U.S. Human Health division. The overall project, incorporating R&D functions as well, will include a new 600,000-sq.-ft. (55,740-sq.-m.) facility in Lower Gwynedd Township and a 375,000-sq-.ft. (34,838-sq.-m.) expansion of Merck's existing facility nearby. Company officials cited efficiency as a primary consideration, as many of the researchers headed for the new space are now spread out in several leased facilities in the area.
      Nearly as identifiable with Philly as the Liberty Bell, Cigna Corp. rang in the next decade with a lease renewal of its 400,000 sq. ft. (37,160 sq. m.) in center city that will extend through 2016, with two five-year renewals.
      Meanwhile, the 1,200-acre (486-hectare) Navy Yard redevelopment project headed by Liberty Property Trust had expected to see the arrival of a North American HQ from Korean railcar and transit consortium United Transit Systems, which was planning to lease 101,000 sq. ft. (9,383 sq. m.) of office and industrial space for administrative, assembly and fit-out work. Comprising Korean railcar and defense equipment manufacturer Rotem (part of the Hyundai Motor Group) and Japan-based project manager Sojitz Corporation of America (SCA), the company hoped to employ 140.
      But those hopes may be fading. The project was the end result of the company's selection by Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Agency (SEPTA) for the construction of 104 new railcars for its fleet. But the threat of a lawsuit by one of the underbid companies has prompted SEPTA to cancel the contract and put the railcars out to bid once again. Hatsuhiko Kageyama, director of sales and marketing with SCA, says even if UTS wins its first U.S. contract outside Philly, it would still prefer to headquarter at Navy Yard.
      Outside the center city, Philly has its own DC project profile, with fast-growing DHL/Airborne Express planning a $15-million, 215,000-sq.-ft. (19,974-sq.-m.) facility at the Philadelphia Interport Business Complex near the city's international airport.
      Another suburban project is a new R&D and regional headquarters from U.K.-based Shire Pharmaceuticals, whose CEO had actually worked in the chosen building in Wayne years before. The company has signed a 10-year lease and expects to bring some 400 jobs to the area by September 2004.
      "Our new U.S. headquarters will give us the ability to recruit and retain the top pharmaceutical talent that we need to sustain our growth," said Matthew Emmens, Shire's CEO, noting the Greater Philadelphia presence of some 80 percent of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies.
      Shire makes a variety of nervous system and gastrointestinal drugs, including a leading drug for the treatment of ADHD. The $8-million move is just part of a $55-million restructuring announced by the company in 2003 and fleshed out in the company's earnings reports earlier this year.
      "We will search, develop and market but will not invent," said the report, meaning M&A and licensing, especially in the U.S., is a high priority. The exit from both early stage therapeutic research and the vaccines business should be complete by fall 2004.
      The company's portfolio of 14 North American sites has now been whittled down to four. Closed are sites in Newport, Ky., and Rockville, Md. Remaining are the Wayne site, and facilities in Florence, Ky., Owings Mills, Md., and Laval, Québec, Canada.
      Shire's head of global corporate communications Jessica Mann says the company's global real estate portfolio will shrink from 750,000 sq. ft. (69,675 sq. m.) to 530,000 sq. ft. (49,237 sq. m.). She is quick to add that the moves are not an exercise in cost-cutting, but part of the new corporate strategy's focus on teamwork, efficiency and improved communication.