Vanguard chooses 2300 Chestnut Street offices for Center City R&D facility

The Vanguard Group will open a 16,000-square foot research-and-development facility over two floors in Center City at 2300 Chestnut Street, the company said in a release on Thursday.

The Malvern-based investment-management company's so called Innovation Center will initially accommodate a team of 20, but up to 100 staffers and contractors are expected to eventually use the facility, the firm said.

The new office space is expected to open during the second quarter of 2017. Its location was chosen for its proximity to the city's businesses and universities, as well as its transit centers, it said.

"We are pleased to set up shop in Philadelphia, and give the Vanguard Innovation Center the benefits and resources of the region's thriving entrepreneurial scene," Vanguard chief executive Bill McNabb said in the release. "Our new location solidifies our commitment to the city."

The offices mark the $3.8 trillion company's first Center City presence in some 17 years. From 1984 to 1999, Vanguard operated a walk-in investment office in the Philadelphia business district to serve individual investors making deposits to their mutual-fund accounts or contributing to their individual retirement accounts.