GSK to downsize from bespoke Navy Yard building to smaller space in FMC Tower
The new smaller offices will provide more flexibility to work from home, the company said.
Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline plans to leave the headquarters building constructed for the firm in South Philadelphia’s Navy Yard business complex less than a decade ago so it can move into smaller offices at FMC Tower in University City.
GSK plans to make the move early next year, after which it will seek a replacement tenant for the duration of its lease, the company said in a statement on Monday. The lease expires in 2028.
Before the pandemic, about 660 people worked in the roughly 208,000-square-foot Navy Yard building, which was designed for the firm by the architectural firm of Robert A.M. Stern, which designed the Comcast Center. It expects about 330 people to use its planned offices at FMC tower, which will comprise only about 50,000 square feet, it said.
“Our new offices will emphasize team connection, dynamic workflows and recognize a preference for greater flexibility to work from home,” the company said. “The new spaces will have fewer individual workstations and more areas for informal collaboration, new and more advanced technology.”
The Navy Yard offices are one of GSK’s two corporate hubs in the United States, along with one in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park.
The office building has been owned since 2018 by Korea Investment Management Co., which purchased the property from developer Liberty Property Trust. Liberty has since been acquired by Prologis Inc., a larger competitor.