The glass structure of the Cira Centre is nearly complete, and more and more companies are showing interest in the 727,725-square-foot office building, which should have its exterior nearly finished by late May.
"It's amazing what happens when steel and glass go up in the air. There's a real reaction to it," said Steve Rush, a spokesman for Brandywine Realty Trust.
The Pennsylvania-based company is the developer and owner of the $200-million, 28-story complex located at 30th Street and JFK Boulevard across the street from 30th Street Station.
"Generally, we're still on schedule ... to get our lead tenant in by this fall," Rush said.
Brandywine will most likely reach its goal of having 75 percent of the space allocated within few days.
"We're pretty confident we can get to that 75 percent," Rush said. "There's significant interest on the part of a lot of different companies to lease space in the building."
Rush was not able to give further information about potential tenants because it is required that he maintain confidentiality until deals are finalized.
Dechert LLP, an international law firm, is Brandywine's anchor tenant and will occupy 240,000 square feet of office space.
Two law firms -- including Dechert -- two money managers and one manufacturing company have committed to approximately two-thirds of the office space in the Cira Centre.
Steel and glass are also in place for a pedestrian bridge across Arch Street that will join 30th Street Station to the building to make commuting easier for workers and clients. The bridge will open when the building does.
Rush believes the location of the Cira Centre is incomparable.
"When [companies] get here and they see the building and the location and they come to understand the incredible access to intellectual capital that is continually streaming out of Penn and Drexel and some of the other schools in University City, it's one more reason to come here, and it's a very real reason for a lot of companies," Rush said.
He also stressed the uniqueness of the structure's characteristics.
"It's a very unique product. It's doing a different thing. It presents a different image for companies than a lot of other buildings in Philadelphia, and just from a practical standpoint it is connected to a major mass-transit hub," he added.
City and Regional Planning professor Eugenie Birch agrees that the location of the Cira Centre is one of its major assets.
"Its location right there at the rail station really does make it just that more accessible to the [Northeast Corridor], and I think that's something that's very innovative and very interesting," Birch said.
However, Birch said she feels the greatest benefit the Cira Centre could potentially provide for Penn is a connection between Center City and University City.
Her main concern is that because the Cira Centre is located in a Keystone Opportunity Zone -- an area with greatly reduced tax burden for property owners -- the new office building may pull existing companies from traditional retail space in Philadelphia rather than create new jobs for the region. Dechert, for instance, will be moving from its offices in Center City.
