Here’s What Subaru’s New Camden HQ Will Look Like

Subaru unveiled a rendering of its new headquarters at a groundbreaking today in Camden's Gateway District. It’s expected to open in 2017.

Subaru - Camden HQ rendering

Rendering courtesy Subaru of America

Subaru held an elaborate groundbreaking today for its new Camden headquarters in the Gateway District, next to the Campbell’s Soup Company.

Subaru’s headquarters is the first part of a new development in Camden, which Brandywine Realty Trust is calling Knights Crossing. It’s named after Camden’s old Knights Point area (now Kaighnsville), which Dempsey Daniel Butler set up for freed slaves and other black residents of Camden in the 19th century.

Subaru’s new headquarters looks pretty much like what you’d expect: It’s an office park with a lot of surface parking surrounding a building with 250,000 square feet of space. An additional building will have 83,000 square feet. The move of Subaru HQ — currently housed in Cherry Hill — will bring about 600 employees from four Subaru sites into one facility.

“We are very excited to be moving this project forward as we seek to bring our family of employees together on one site,” Subaru of America president Thomas Doll said. “This signing cements the long-term future of Subaru in the Delaware Valley and we are pleased that, after almost 50 years here, we can plan to continue to be a part of the local community we have supported for so long.”

Subaru plans to create a new bike path adjacent to its headquarters (more on that here).

The entire Knights Crossing development will have 1.4 million square feet of space. Jerry Sweeney, president of Brandywine Realty Trust, said it will be an “urban neighborhood” that’s a multi-mode, mixed use town center. Renderings of further development on the site were not revealed today.

“We are delighted to contribute to the revitalization of Camden and look forward to Knights Crossing becoming a significant catalyst to the renaissance taking place in Camden,” Sweeney said. “Subaru’s decision, coupled with the long-standing commitment by Campbell, provides an excellent platform for further economic development and job creation in the city of Camden.”

Campbell’s first proposed the idea for an office park adjacent their Camden HQ about a decade ago, according to president/CEO Denise Morrison. “We were determined to revitalize our headquarters and to spearhead the renaissance of the Gateway,” she said. “Today, our plan becomes reality. It’s with great pride that we welcome Subaru to Camden.”

Doll, of Subaru, said he expects the headquarters to be completed by the end of 2017.