1601 Market Street Signs Fourth Tenant as the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau Selects High-Profile Retail Location for New HQ

PHILADELPHIA, June 26, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- APF Properties has leased 12,000 square feet of its newly transformed retail/office space on the second floor of 1601 Market Street to the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau (PHLCVB) for its new headquarters, the company announced.  Berndt Perl, principal of APF Properties, the owner of the LEED-certified 1601 Market Street made the announcement jointly with PHLCVB's President and CEO Jack Ferguson.

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PHLCVB, the official tourist promotion agency for the City of Philadelphia globally, was drawn to the central location of the space, as well as the opportunity to have second-floor exposure and signage on one of Philadelphia's busiest corners.  "Our mission is to showcase Philadelphia to the world, and put heads in beds, by attracting conventions,  events, group tours and overseas visitors to the City," said Ferguson.  "Our new open concept offices will help our team put our best foot forward and offer a spectacular street view of Philadelphia to meeting planners, tour operators, international journalists and local stakeholders who visit with us on a regular basis. Prominent exterior signage in this high-traffic area, in brand new space with ready access to the sights, sounds and atmosphere of Center City District and the expanded Pennsylvania Convention Center, made 1601 Market Street ideal for our purposes." 

PHLCVB will relocate its 50 employees to 1601 Market Street, with move-in expected in late December.  The private, non-profit membership corporation will take the opportunity to tighten its footprint in this move, while comprehensively updating its meeting and technological resources in the process of relocating.

"We are thrilled to welcome the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau to 1601 Market Street," Mr. Perl said.  "Downtown Philadelphia is on a clear path to become one of the most exciting CBDs in the U.S., and our new retail development at 1601 will contribute to this trend.  Our new transparent retail/office glass space  completes the second stage of our building expansion, after converting storage space and public areas on our Concourse level into a new 14,000 square foot Bright Horizon's child care facility that serves the office market as well as the increasing residential CBD population.  We believe in the ongoing renaissance of the Philadelphia CBD and we're proud to take a leading role in improving our building's interaction with the people on the street through access and signage, and of our success in attracting high-profile tenants, such as PHLCVB to this newly offered space."

APF Properties recently invested $9 million to renovate and reposition the lower floors of this Class A office building, and is the first office landlord in the CBD to make an investment in activating street-level retail coupled with creating new office space with 19 foot ceilings.  To date, APF has leased more than 7,000 square feet of brand new ground floor retail space to Republic First Bank and TD Ameritrade, and 14,000 square feet of Concourse level space to Bright Horizons, in addition to the new lease with PHLCVB.  Limited retail space remains available at 1601 Market Street, including a 3,400-square-foot, two-level availability that is ideally suited for a major restaurant.

About APF Properties
APF Properties is a fully integrated real estate investment firm with a commercial portfolio valued at more than $800 million. The firm focuses exclusively on commercial office buildings in New York, Philadelphia and Houston. Founded in 1995 by Berndt Perl and Kenneth Aschendorf, APF Properties owns a two million square-foot office portfolio.

About Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau

Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau (PHLCVB), www.discoverPHL.com, a private non-profit membership corporation, is the official Tourism Promotion Agency for the City of Philadelphia globally, and the primary sales and marketing agency for the expanded Pennsylvania Convention Center.  The organization has departments dedicated to the multicultural, sports, and life sciences markets. The PHLCVB incorporates the short code PHL, an open source graphic identifier for the City of Philadelphia into the Convention & Visitors Bureau brand identity. The graphic identifier and other assets for use by public, private and non-profit organizations can be found at www.PHLpartners.com. To request a login, email [email protected].

Contact:
Great Ink Communications, Ltd. – 212-741-2977
Roxanne Donovan (Email) 
Eric Gerard (Email)
Eric Waters (Email)
Danielle Cohn (PHLCVB) 215-636-3320 Email 

SOURCE APF Properties