After selling a building to Burlington Stores, Brandywine plans $200 million more in sales for 2027
Philadelphia's largest office building owner isn't ruling out more sales in the region.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, office owner Brandywine Realty Trust has been shedding some of its lower performing buildings — culminating in this year’s blockbuster $240 million sale of 3151 Market St. to Burlington Stores for that company’s new headquarters.
On Thursday, Brandywine CEO Jerry Sweeney announced that his company would target even more sales in 2027.
“We do anticipate about another $200 million — maybe more — in sales next year,” Sweeney said on Brandywine’s third quarter earnings call.
Brandywine is the dominant office building owner in Philadelphia. It also has 13 buildings in Austin, Texas, and substantial holdings in the Washington, D.C., area and other parts of Virginia.
“Some of those [sales] will still be in market assets,” Sweeney said. “Some of those will be in what we consider to be some of our non-core markets. But some of that may be land parcels.”
He said the company is looking hard at its land holdings as liquidation targets.
In a message to The Inquirer after the call, Sweeney said that specific properties would be selected for disposal early next year.
“We are looking at our entire portfolio and haven’t really selected any specific project,” Sweeney said. “My guess is that Philly area assets could be a part of the ’27 program.”
Although Philadelphia’s office sector has been in turmoil following the pandemic, Brandywine has been one of the few winners. The company’s top-of-the-market buildings have attracted and retained tenants as many other older buildings have seen soaring vacancies.
In the city, 96% of Brandywine’s office holdings are leased. In the first nine months of 2026, 60% of all new leasing in University City and Center City were in Brandywine buildings, even though their market share is just 15% in those locations.
In the Philadelphia suburbs, Brandywine’s properties are 93% leased, but its Austin portfolio continues to lag with an occupancy rate of 66%.
2027 looks stable in terms of its existing tenancy. Only two companies with leases over 30,000 square feet of space in Brandywine’s portfolio expire next year, and both are expected to renew.
On the earnings call, Sweeney was asked for more information on the sale of 3151 Market St., built to host laboratory space, and what it said about the company’s push into the life sciences market, which has been struggling in recent years.
“Clearly, the life science market changed since we commenced construction of that project,” Sweeney said. “Demand drivers are still there, but they’re much more muted than the demand levels were several years ago.”
He said they had pivoted to a mixed office-and-lab strategy and had promising conversations with potential tenants, but the sale to Burlington Stores provided a solid base for Brandywine’s larger Schuylkill Yards ambitions.
“The decision for us came down to this: We had the ability through that building to bring a Fortune 500 company with over 2,000 employees … to further cement Schuylkill Yards as the place to be with mass transit access in the city,” Sweeney said.
The deal also gave Brandywine the resources to pay off some high interest rate loans, which under present tumultuous market conditions was worth more to the company than the long road to leasing up the building.
“It was a challenging real estate decision because [we] could create some great value there, but from a financial planning standpoint, given the current capital market condition ... it was an easy decision,” he said.
