The office market in Chester County recorded a good first quarter with gains in new leases both from companies expanding their space and new tenants, writes Natalie Kostelni for the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Among the companies that have increased their square footage is Vanguard, which has taken another 60,000 square feet in Malvern. The investment giant moved into a newly constructed, four-story building on its campus in November, but is continuing to require even more space.

Meanwhile, Brandywine Realty Trust has sold an office building in Malvern to Tripoint Properties, a Downingtown-based real estate company, for $18 million.

The county also recorded some reductions, including SEI and Main Line Health vacating a combined 90,000 square feet in Malvern.

The movements recorded in Chester County are in line with the rest of the Philadelphia suburbs, where overall occupancy “grew at a faster pace during Q1 2020 than it had in all of 2019 by more than 60,000 square feet,” according to CBRE’s first-quarter report.

Still, the first-quarter data does not reveal how the coronavirus has affected the suburban office market as stay-at-home orders were not issues until mid-March.

Read more about the local office market in the Philadelphia Business Journal here.

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