Aramark to Move Headquarters to Schuylkill Waterfront
Aramark Corporation is the world’s largest managed services company, providing catering, health care, maintenance, and janitorial services worldwide. Since the 1980s, the company has had their massive world headquarters at their namesake tower at 11th and Market Streets. They recently decided to relocate to the other side of Center City, into the former Market Place Design Center building at 2400 Market Street, along the Schuylkill waterfront between Rittenhouse Square and University City. The building extends from Market Street to Chestnut Street. It runs along the waterfront, next to the CSX railroad tracks, and currently has a large mural of a whale on the exterior.
The existing building is four stories. The renovation will include an expansion that will add five more stories on top. Each floor will have 60,000 square feet. The offices will have the popular “loft style” layout and will include exposed beams, wood texture, and exposed brick in the original building. The side along the waterfront will have a new promenade and retail space, and an entrance into the new lobby. With an existing promenade above 24th Street, on the building’s east side, the building will have 10,000 square feet of outdoor space and retail on all sides. This would allow for outdoor restaurant and café seating. The outdoor space will have planters and benches, too. The promenade above 24th Street will have another entrance into the lobby. Underneath, there is an existing parking garage with 300 spaces accessible from 24th Street.
This is another significant development for the Schuylkill waterfront and it adds another major corporate headquarters there. Across the river, the 50-story FMC Tower has the world headquarters of FMC Corporation, a large chemical company, and at the Cira Center is the U.S. headquarters of SCA Corporation, a toiletry and medical supply company. There is, also, residential development, such as the evo at Cira Centre South on Chestnut Street and One Riverside, a condo tower at the end of Locust Street. New corporate offices along the Schuylkill River will add to demand for housing and increase property values in nearby neighborhoods, such as Rittenhouse, Fitler Square, Logan Square, and University City.
By, Gabriel Gottlieb
