Future Tenants: Bullrun Financial
Corrections or additions?
This article by Barbara Fox was prepared for the November 17, 2004
issue of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
First Tenant: Duane Morris
Duane Morris consolidated its law office in Cherry Hill with its
College Road office by moving to 16,000 square feet at American Metro
Center, the former American Standard factory, and it is reserving
about 6,800 additional feet for expansion.
“A year ago we decided that since we had progressed to being national
firm, the Princeton area was a better focus for us, so we consolidated
both offices,” says Frank Luchak, the managing partner. “We considered
locations on Route 1. We like the Princeton area because it is
internationally oriented, and because of its technology. We have a
number of patent attorneys who work with venture capitalists here.”
“But we wanted to be on north/south roadway because we have a lot of
business in Southern New Jersey – Mount Laurel, Mount Holly, and
Cherry Hill – and I-295 was the logical roadway. It rarely has a major
congestion problem. Door to door, from Cherry Hill, it is 40 minutes,”
says Luchak, who looks forward to when the footbridge will allow
tenants to walk directly into the Hamilton Train Station. “Now, you
would have to walk up and over the roadway bridge that crosses over
the track.”
The new headquarters, Luchak notes, is a landmark building with such
interesting features as high ceilings. “In the common areas, ceilings
are 18 to 20 foot tall, with glass on either side.” Every 40 feet,
there is a 20-foot section with a raised roof, called a “pop-up,” he
says. “A lot of light comes in obliquely, which is good for displaying
artwork. And the interior offices have natural light coming down
because of the popups.”
The 75th largest law firm in the United States, Duane Morris has 55
attorneys in 21 offices, including an office in London. At 100 College
Road, the Princeton office had 8,100 square feet and 17 attorneys. Now
it has 25 attorneys who do employment law and litigation, intellectual
property, healthcare law, civil litigation, international law,
professional liability, information technology, financial institution
regulation, antitrust, and bankruptcy.
The location decision was made easier by the fact that Duane Morris’s
new landlord is also its client, and vice versa. “They are also
working with us for our new office in Philadelphia, due to be finished
in the fall of 2006,” says Luchak. “We will be the lead tenants at
17th & Market streets. We will have our name on the front of the
building and have our artwork on the walls.”
Visual art is important to these lawyers, in part because of the
chairman of the firm is on the board of directors of the Philadelphia
Museum of Art and a prominent collector of what is called “outsider
art,” Luchak says. Outsider art is made by artists with more talent
than training and can appear somewhat avant garde. The firm’s
Princeton office does not own any outsider art, but it does have
several works by pop artist Robert Indiana, known for his “LOVE”
slanted-letter logo.
Luchak grew up in Princeton, where his father was an engineering
professor at Princeton University and his mother worked as a
nutritionist for the state, also volunteering as a docent for the
Princeton University Art Museum. He graduated from Princeton High and
went to Princeton University, Class of 1972, with a degree in
economics. Working at the Bank of Montreal international division, he
attended law school at the State University of New York at Buffalo,
and practiced law in Philadelphia, arriving at Duane Morris in 1981.
In 1990 he went to New Jersey to what was then the Marlton office, and
he moved it to Cherry Hill in 1995. He is married to an attorney who
had had her own firm in Philadelphia, and they have three children in
Princeton schools.
That Duane Morris has Quaker roots affects how it does business today,
says Luchak. “It was founded by four Quakers on Pine Street,” he says,
“and for 100 years we have been making decisions by Quaker consensus.
Most law firms vote.”
Monthly partners meetings are held in Philadelphia with six to ten
videolinks from the outlying 20 offices. Ruling by consensus does take
more time at the beginning, he admits, because everyone is obligated
to learn about the issues. “If someone wants to speak out they have to
think it through and consider the effect on the business. If there are
a number of partners who express reservations, the issue is tabled.
But if consensus is reached, it is like operating on all cylinders.
Everybody is behind the decision, and it is much easier to effectuate.
With a vote, there are losers, and some people resist.”
– Barbara Fox
Duane Morris LLP, 240 Princeton Avenue, Suite 150,Hamilton 08619. Frank Luchak, managing partner. 609-631-2400; fax,609-631-2401. www.duanemorris.comTop Of PageFuture Tenants: Bullrun FinancialBullrun Financial, 134 Franklin Corner Road, Suite 106,Lawrenceville 08648. John Coscia, managing director. 609-912-1370;fax, 609-912-1371. www.bullrunfinancial.comBullrun Financial is reportedly moving to 5,040 square feet atAmerican Metro. The company did not return calls, but press releasessuggest that its current clients are institutional equity moneymanagers. It offers web-based software for real-time access to marketinformation on stocks, market analysis, and investment strategies.John Michel, the CEO, went to the United States Military Academy atWest Point and has a master of science degree from Carnegie MellonUniversity. At Merrill Lynch he developed and managed Merrill LynchDirect. Gary Moody, the chief information officer, is also a WestPoint graduate and has a master’s degree from Georgia Institute ofTechnology. At Merrill Lynch he was director of client informationmanagement for US Private Client.John Coscia, managing director, worked for Merrill Lynch for 32 years,most recently as director of advisory field marketing. He graduatedfrom Elon College in North Carolina and from the Wharton School’sexecutive program. Jeff Negrete, who went to Iowa State and theUniversity of California at Berkeley, recently came to Bullrun fromCharles Schwab, where he helped transition that firm to onlineservices. He is vice president and general manager of softwareengineering.Top Of PageColfax Corp.Colfax Corporation, 993 Lenox Drive, Suite 200,Lawrenceville 08648. Thomas M. O’Brien, vice president. 609-896-7627;fax, 609-896-7633. Home page: www.colfaxcorp.comThe possible move of Colfax Corporation to 2,200 square feet atAmerican Metro has been stalled by construction delays, but the movemay yet take place. Colfax had been leasing space at 997 Lenox Drive,but the lease expired, and it took temporary space at OfficeConcierge. From five to ten people will work at the new headquarters.Colfax Corporation had purchased Imo Industries in 1997 in a roll-upof global pump manufacturers, and it also has nearly a dozen powertransmission firms.Top Of PageFBIFederal Bureau of Investigation, 850 Bear Tavern Road,Box 7811, West Trenton 08628-0811. Joseph Billy Jr., special agent incharge. 609-883-4499; fax, 609-434-4352. Home page: www.usdoj.govOne of the FBI’s six satellite offices in New Jersey is reported to bemoving from Bear Tavern Road in West Trenton to nearly 10,000 squarefeet in second floor offices at American Metro. Nevertheless, the FBIspokesperson cannot confirm this until the move takes place, sayingonly that there are 300 agents in New Jersey.Top Of PageFloorgraphicsFloorgraphics Inc., 5 Vaughn Drive, Suite 200, Princeton08540. Richard Rebh, CEO. 609-514-0404; fax, 609-514-0204.www.floorgraphics.comFloorgraphics, the firm that embeds advertisements into the flooringat retail stores, is reportedly moving from 5 Vaughn Drive to asimilar space, 9,700 square feet at American Metro. It occupies partof the lavish suite that formerly belonged to John Torkelsen’sPrinceton Venture Research.Founded by Fred Potok, along with George Rebh and his brother, RichardRebh, the company creates and installs trademarked laminated vinyldecals that cover about six square feet of tile on the floors ofretail stores. It leases aisle space from the retail store and sellsthe ads to the consumer product companies (U.S. 1, April 28, 1999),and it has a national network of 12,000 in-store locations.FloorGraphics has been cash flow positive since 1999. With revenueslast year of $63 million, an increase of 1.60 percent, this companyplaced number 11 in the Inc. Magazine list last year.Top Of PageGlen EagleGlen Eagle Advisors LLC, 134 Franklin Corner Road, Suite102, Lawrence 08548. Robert Less, director of compliance operations.609-912-1440.Glen Eagle Advisors, an independent regional broker, expanded from anoffice in Cranbury to Franklin Corner Road, and next year it expectsto move to American Metro. It plans to hire brokers in the tri-statearea – New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, says Robert Less, whoformerly worked at Merrill Lynch.Top Of PageMactecMactec, 14 Washington Park, Building 1, PrincetonJunction 08550. Deborah A. Barsotti, principal scientist.609-936-0700; fax, 609-936-1020. Home page: www.mactec.comMactec, an environmental and engineering firm that was founded in1873, will expand from 5,200 square feet at Washington Park, where 20people are working, to 10,700 square feet at American Metro. The movewas originally scheduled for June but has been pushed back, says CarolTirrell, the moving coordinator. “We have expanded and we will beexpanding,” says Tirrell.This office is Mactec’s environmental engineering arm for siteremediation, air permitting, risk assessment, and other generalengineering projects. Its clients include PSE&G and chemical companiesin the three-state area. Formerly known as Harding Lawson and then asHarding ESE, it was bought by Mactec.Top Of PageMaser ConsultingMaser Consulting PA, 4621 Nottingham Way, Suite 8,Hamilton Square 08690. Julia Algio, office manager. 609-587-8200; fax,609-587-8260. Home page: www.maserconsulting.comHaving outgrown its space on Nottingham Way, Maser Consulting ismoving its 30-person engineering office to 9,100 square feet atAmerican Metro sometime in 2005. The 20-year-old firm recently movedits headquarters from Matawan to Red Bank. It has 250 workers in sixoffices – four in New Jersey and two in New York, says Karen Owens,marketing manager.The company has municipal and environmental engineers, planners,surveyors, and landscape architects. Julia Algio, the office manager,is one of the civil engineers, and Maurice Rashad heads the company’straffic engineering division, which is located here. A recent contractfor the Hamilton office was for the civil engineering and sitedevelopment for Washington Town Center.Originally scheduled for this month, the projected move-in date haschanged to sometime early next year.Top Of PageSimstarSimStar Inc., 202 Carnegie Center, Suite 300, Princeton08540. David Reim, CEO. 609-378-0100; fax, 609-378-0220. Home page:www.simstar.comSimStar is moving 65 people to 16,000 square feet at American Metrofrom 202 Carnegie Center, where it has 25,000 square feet.”We are hoping to move in January,” says Andrew Friedman, chieffinancial officer. “The proximity to the Hamilton train station isreally convenient for us, and it will be an easier commute for ourpeople. Also, the space will be much more efficient for us, with amore open floor plan, floor to ceiling windows, and skylights.”Simstar had moved from Route 206 to Carnegie Center under a four-yearsublease deal that expired in October; it is now in a costly”holdover” mode. Bill Barish at Commercial Property Network helpedmake a five-year-deal that, says Friedman, “is favorable to what wehave now.”For four years, starting in 1999, Simstar was on the national Inc. 500list. Founded in 1991 in California, it has E-business solutions forcustomer relationship management in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology,and consumer healthcare industries. Current clients include Allergan,AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Hoffmann-La Roche, Novartis,Pfizer, and Sanofi-Synthelabo.Top Of PageStructure ToneStructure Tone, 100 Overlook Center, Princeton 08540.Richard Campbell, senior project manager. 609-375-2380; fax,609-375-2001. Home page: www.structuretone.comOne of the general contractors at American Metro will soon be a tenantthere. After three years at Regus at Princeton Overlook, StructureTone will move to 2,400 square feet in the space it helped build.About 25 people, including field personnel, work from the Princetonoffice, which expects to add 10 to 15 more people. This office servesCentral and South Jersey and Philadelphia; the next nearest office isin Lyndhurst. Richard Campbell is the senior project manager here, andDermid Kelly is the chief estimator.As one of five prime contractors at the American Metro site, StructureTone does the base building and interior tenant fitouts, including thework for Duane Morris. Other national accounts are Regus, MerrillLynch (for current projects in Plainsboro, Hopewell, and Piscataway),and CFSB. It also did some work for Boston Properties at the CarnegieCenter. “We hire architects and engineers and work alongside them,”explains Michael Farrell, one of the estimators. “We can offerbudgeting and cost control through the design phase.”Based in Manhattan, the Structure Tone Organization provides projectmanagement, construction management and general contracting services.Founded in 1971, it has 1,000 employees worldwide.Top Of PageUnion SwitchUnion Switch and Signal, 14 Washington Park, Building 7,Suite 722, Princeton Junction 08550. Allan Zambarelli, director.609-716-9325; fax, 609-716-9441. Home page: www.switch.comUnion Switch and Signal plans to vacate the second floor of Building 7at Washington Park and move to 6,760 square feet at American Metro.The move date is supposed to be after January 1. This is the EastCoast engineering office for a 130-year-old company that designs,manufactures, and installs railroad signal equipment.In one sense, this move will be a homecoming, because at one pointUnion Switch & Signal was owned by American Standard.The company has its 175,000 square-foot headquarters in Pittsburgh,and a 184,000 square-foot manufacturing facility in Batesburg, SouthCarolina. It also maintains offices in the United States, Canada,Korea, and China.Previous StoryNext StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
