Aramark reveals plans for new Gensler-designed Philadelphia headquarters

Dive Brief:

International food, facility and uniform services company Aramark unveiled its plans for a new Philadelphia headquarters, putting to rest rumors of its possible relocation elsewhere, according to Curbed Philadelphia.
The company's new Gensler-designed offices, just 13 blocks away from its current location, will fill the top five floors of the former Hudson Motor Car company once it has been renovated and turned into a nine-story, 600,000-square-foot mid-rise. Aramark's space will include a "state of the art" employee dining facility, fitness center and 8,000 square feet of exterior terraces.
Developer PMC Property Group withdrew a previous design for the remodel prior to a city review last May, and the current Gensler design still must obtain approval. Aramark said it anticipates a fall 2018 move.

Dive Insight:

Early last month, General Electric revealed plans for its new $100 million, 12-story Boston headquarters, also designed by Gensler. Construction should get underway on the 400,000-square-foot campus late this year and be ready for occupancy sometime in 2018. GE, which is leaving its long-time home in Fairfield, CT, once its new offices are ready, announced in April that it had selected Gensler from a group of 35 other architecture firms in a global search that took place over a period of several weeks. GE said the headquarters will have a "global scale and feel" and, in addition to the new building, will include the renovation of two existing historical buildings.

Gensler ranked 38th on Glassdoor's 2016 list of the 50 best places to work, and last month, the design firm, which includes the 121-story Shanghai Tower in China and the new Los Angeles Football Club's $250 million, 15-acre stadium complex in its portfolio, was named the highest-earning U.S. architecture company ($1.181 billion) of 2015 by Architectural Record. Gensler was the first U.S. architecture firm to pass the $1 billion revenue mark, which it succeeded in doing back in 2014, and 2015 marked the fifth straight year the company claimed the top spot.