The Leader - November/December 2008 - (Page 26)

BLEN D IN G T H E O L D W I T H TH E NEW: U R B A N OUTFITTERS ’ H Q MOV E S TO P HI LADE LPHI A NAV Y YARD sealed – capturing the natural patina of peeling paint. Former plate-bending pits are now koi ponds, circular cement sinks serve as massive planters and 2,000-pound (907-kilogram) overhead cranes now hold delicate lanterns. As Inga Saffron, the architecture critic for The Philadelphia Inquirer explained, “(Jeff) Scherer's gritty mix of decay and history – accessorized with a few exquisite decorative ﬂourishes – is exactly what the $1 billion-a-year fashion retailer was seeking for its uniﬁed corporate campus… Rarely has an architecture and landscape design so thoroughly embodied a company's corporate identity and aesthetic sensibility… Scherer and the retailer reject the idea that preservation means restoring a building to its opening-day condition.They zealously pursue a postmodern jumble.” But four short years ago, the Navy Yard wasn’t anything to write about. In fact, it was a mess. Stretching along seven miles of historic waterfront at the conﬂuence of the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers, the Philadelphia Navy Yard was once the most modern and productive shipbuilding industrial plant in the world. Scores of warships, including the largest U.S. battleships, were crafted within the Navy Yard’s turn-ofthe-century low-rise buildings. Thousands of U.S. Navy and Marine Corps lived and worked on the 1,200-acre (486-hectare) Navy Yard between 1876 and 1945. Following World War II, Philadelphia’s Navy Yard continued to build and maintain the U.S. ﬂeet while also serving as a training ground for troops. Slowly, resulting from decreases in funding and shifting geo-politics, the once vibrant Navy Yard grew quiet. In 1996, the Yard was closed. While a few Navy personnel remain on site, time, weather and neglect wreaked havoc. When Hayne ﬁrst walked the site, he stepped over debris – broken glass, falling brick, rusty steel and abandoned machinery. To most, the Navy Yard appeared unsalvageable. Yet Hayne and his team of architects saw potential. Hayne has a unique ability to work back and forth between the left and right side of the brain – he is equally at home with spreadsheets and design. As Metropolis magazine wrote, “Hayne has made an art out of mining the detritus of urban decline.” Urban Outﬁtters’ retail strategy is one of adaptive reuse so it was ﬁtting that corporate should live in the same. The company had previously ﬁt its 600+ employees in a handful of buildings scattered across downtown Philadelphia. Isolation, inefﬁciencies and continued growth started Hayne Working as a unique bipartisan team, officials crafted an innovative incentive program to spark redevelopment. thinking about a cohesive corporate campus. He was on the verge of taking several ﬂoors in the downtown Philadelphia Curtis Publishing building but when the owner refused to allow dogs, Hayne backed out. The juxtaposition of the Navy Yard’s raw, gritty feel and open, green lawns captured his imagination. The only drawback was the Yard’s location. Several miles outside the city center, the Yard felt disconnected. The Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) shared Hayne’s concerns and worked out a master plan for the entire 1,000-acre (405-hectare) site that included a subway stop linking the Yard to downtown.The redevelopment has been in process since 2000 and required over $5 million in infrastructure improvements. Plans call for 20,000-30,000 jobs on the site. Until Urban Outﬁtters’ move in 2006, city ofﬁcials were struggling to sell it. The location and existing conditions were hurdles most people couldn’t get past. Urban Outﬁtters’ employees weren’t keen on the idea at ﬁrst either. Primarily a population of walkers, bikers and bus riders, Urban’s employees worried about how they would get to work. And once there, where would they eat, shop or get a quick manicure? “A lot of people were skeptical about moving down here because we didn’t know what to expect,” said Heather, a designer for the Urban Outﬁtters brand. “Being in center city, there was so much shopping and everything right outside our door. Moving out here was intimidating but actually, I really like it. It’s great to have all this space.” To ease the transition, Urban Outﬁtters hosted a series of all-employee meetings to discuss concerns, four Navy Yard tours throughout the design and construction phase familiarized employees with the new spaces, transportation issues were addressed, resulting in Urban hiring a shuttle bus service to transport urban dwellers to the Yard. Besides the practicality of getting to work, a company-wide survey helped deﬁne the food service needs of the employees – resulting in a ﬁrst-class cafeteria with cooked-to-order meals. The 543 Café is a vibrant lunch scene. Open to the public, sailors, ship builders, researchers and 20-something fashionistas share tables and conversation daily. “I can’t stop raving about these buildings. They are beautiful,” said one of Urban Outﬁtters’ top recruits. “When I saw these fabulous buildings I decided I was willing to commute from New York to work here. So now I commute two hours one way but I love it.” City ofﬁcials believed in waterfront revitalization as well. Working as a unique bipartisan team, ofﬁcials crafted an innovative incentive program to spark redevelopment. Hayne’s decision to move Urban Outﬁtters to the Navy Yard was just the “major tenant” the site needed. Urban initially pur- 2 0 0 8 TH E LE ADE R 26 NOVEMBER / DECEMBER

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Leader - November/December 2008

The Leader - November/December 2008 Leadership Contents Message from the CEO Real Estate in the News Leveraging Business Geography My Work @ Bank of America Blending the Old with the New A Tool for Growth Creating Real Estate Value Nokia-Siemens Networks’ Peter Doran DTZ’s James Maddock Annual Economic Development Directory The Georgia Report Location Profile: Magdeburg, Germany Linking Corporate Real Estate to the Enterprise 3rd Quarter 2008 Adding Value in Challenging Times Australia and New York Shell’s Paul Huston Economic Development in the News A Look Ahead In our Next Issue Calendar of Seminars Index of Advertisers Chapter Learning: The Global Perspective

The Leader - November/December 2008

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