Work to start on new HQ building.

Comcast Corporation, the nation's leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications products and services, and Liberty Property Trust has signed a 15.5 year lease deal for a new corporate headquarters in a building being developed by Liberty at 1701 JFK Boulevard in Center City Philadelphia.

Construction for Comcast Center will begin in mid-January 2005, with completion in the fall of 2007. Comcast Center will rise 975 feet or 57 stories, and contain 1.2 million s/f of usable space. Comcast will initially occupy 24 floors, or about 44% of the rentable office space, encompassing 534,000 s/f. Comcast, which currently has 1,300 headquarters employees, is initially leasing sufficient space to accommodate more than 1,900 employees. Comcast may expand to accommodate 3,000 to 4,000 total employees.

Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian L. Roberts said, "Our decision to build a new headquarters in Philadelphia is consistent with Comcast's unwavering 40-year commitment to Philadelphia and to the Commonwealth. Comcast Center will enable us to efficiently operate our headquarters and include the latest technology in the building's infrastructure. Our new headquarters will also include new technology research and development labs, technology demonstration areas, training space for our employees, and a new headquarters for Comcast University."