In efforts to prepare the way for Sora West, a new mixed-use project slated for Fayette  and West Elm streets in Conshohocken, Keystone Property Group will knock down two existing offices buildings.

That has meant emptying a total of 26 tenants out of 100 W. Elm St. and One W. First Ave., the two 37,000-square-foot buildings that will eventually be torn down. One of the challenges for several small tenants was finding space not too far away at moderate rents, writes Natalie Kostelni in the Philadelphia Business Journal.

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There’s finite space in Conshohocken, according to a broker with Cresa Partners.

“There aren’t a lot of opportunities in Conshohocken at rents that people want to pay,” said Matt Feeney, a broker with Cresa Partners, who represented a few tenants who needed to find a new office space. Even Cresa is affected by the situation since the firm is a tenant at One W. First.

Rents in the two buildings were priced in the low- to mid-20s a square foot and in some cases firms were paying less than that. Keystone, which had been going through the approval process for Sora West for the last several years had decided, as an accommodation to tenants since they would have to eventually move, to do only short-term lease deals at rents below what the market was demanding. The leases also included termination or relocation clauses, giving Keystone the ability to ask tenants to move out. A representative from Keystone declined to comment.

To read the complete story click here.

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