Liberty Property Trust was a

real estate investment trust A real estate investment trust (REIT) is a company that owns, and in most cases operates, income-producing real estate. REITs own many types of commercial real estate, including office and apartment buildings, warehouses, hospitals, shopping cente ...

that invested in office buildings and industrial properties. As of December 31, 2017, the company owned interests in 461 industrial and 48 office properties comprising 86.0 million square feet.

History

The company traces its history to Rouse & Associates, which was formed in 1972 by

Willard Rouse Willard Goldsmith Rouse III (June 19, 1942 – May 27, 2003) was an American real estate developer, best known for his role in the construction of Philadelphia's One Liberty Place. Early life and education Willard Rouse, a native of Baltimore, ...

, George Congdon, David Hammers, and Menard Doswell to develop warehouse space in southern New Jersey. In 1974, Rouse & Associates purchased the Great Valley Corporate Center (GVCC) in Malvern, Pennsylvania. This property was the first

office park A business park or office park is a designated area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. These types of developments are often located in suburban areas where land and building costs are more affordable, and are typically ...

to incorporate a graduate college, a business development and training center, and a day care center. In 1987, Rouse & Associates opened

One Liberty Place Liberty Place is a skyscraper complex in Philadelphia. The complex is composed of a 61-story, skyscraper called One Liberty Place, a 58-story, skyscraper called Two Liberty Place, a two-story shopping mall called the Shops at Liberty Place, a ...

, the first skyscraper in Philadelphia to be taller than

Philadelphia City Hall Philadelphia City Hall is the seat of the municipal government of the City of Philadelphia. Built in the ornate Second Empire style, City Hall houses the chambers of the Philadelphia City Council and the offices of the Mayor of Philadelphia. ...

, and the tallest building in Pennsylvania from 1987 to 2007. Elsewhere their UK subsiduary Rouse Kent developed

Kings Hill Kings Hill is a civil parish in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. It is one of several new villages built in Kent since the 1950s (other examples including Vigo and New Ash Green). Development started in 1989 near West Mall ...

in the United Kingdom. In 1994, Rouse & Associates changed its name to Liberty Property Trust and became a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange ( ...

via an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...

. In 1995, the company acquired Lingerfelt Development Corporation in a $125 million transaction. In 1997, the company acquired 2 portfolios of properties for $130 million. In 2003, founder and chief executive officer Willard Rouse died from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

. In 2014, in a joint venture with Comcast, the company began construction of the

Comcast Technology Center The Comcast Technology Center is a supertall skyscraper in Center City, Philadelphia. The 60-floor building, with a height of , is the tallest building in Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the fourteenth-tallest building in the ...

, which at , is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere outside of Manhattan and Chicago and was designed by Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank. The company owns a 20% interest in the project. In 2016, the company sold a portfolio of 8 properties for $131.1 million, an 8 building portfolio in Herndon, Virginia for $97 million, and a portfolio of 108 properties for $969 million. On February 4, 2020, the company was acquired by

Prologis Prologis, Inc. is a real estate investment trust headquartered in San Francisco, California that invests in logistics facilities. The company was formed through the merger of AMB Property Corporation and Prologis in June 2011, which made Prologi ...

References

External links

{{authority control 1972 establishments in Pennsylvania 1994 initial public offerings 2020 mergers and acquisitions 2020 disestablishments in Pennsylvania American companies established in 1972 Real estate companies established in 1972 Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Financial services companies established in 1972 Real estate investment trusts of the United States Companies based in Chester County, Pennsylvania Real estate companies disestablished in 2020 Financial services companies disestablished in 2020