Liberty To Build American Water's HQ In Camden Waterfront

Liberty Property Trust (NYSE:LPT) announced signing an agreement with American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) for the development of the latter’s new corporate headquarters at One Water Street in Camden, NJ. This marks the first commercial office development along the Camden Waterfront, which is a $1 billion, 20-acre mixed-use development project on the Delaware River.

This five-story metal-and-glass building would encompass 222,376 square feet of office space. Construction of the building and adjacent parking garage is scheduled to commence this fall. Designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, the new building is expected to be complete in the second half of 2018. American Water would consolidate a number of its leased facilities in southern New Jersey into the new corporate headquarters at One Water Street.

Notably, the Camden Waterfront, which is master planned by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, is to be developed by Liberty Property and is slated to have a 1.5 million square foot office development with hotel, residential and retail components.

Favorable demographic and market factors of the Camden area as well as the attractive tax benefits offered through the Grow New Jersey Assistance Program has prompted the Liberty Property to opt for the Camden Waterfront development.

Importantly, mixed-use developments have gained popularity for solid neighborhood character, greater housing variety and density. Moreover, such developments lower the distance between housing, workplaces, retail businesses, and other amenities and destinations. Hence, such developments enable the companies to capture the attention of people, who prefer to live, work and play in the same area – a trend that drove development in several other U.S. cities.

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Liberty Property currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Investors interested in the REIT industry can also consider other better-ranked stocks like Boston Properties Inc. (NYSE:BXP) and Mack-Cali Realty Corp. (NYSE:CLI) . Both these stocks have a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).