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Tuesday, November 10, 2009
For Rent: Sunoco headquarters

Just four years into a 15-year lease, shrinking Sunoco has asked Philadelphia office broker David Binswanger to find new tenants for its headquarters in the Mellon Bank Center, 1735 Market Street.

NEW: Is Sunoco getting ready to leave its Center City space? "We are exploring a number of opportunities to consolidate our office space and reduce our costs," responds spokesman Thomas Golembeski in an e-mail.

EARLIER: The oil refiner and retailer and chemical maker has been laying off workers at the 221,000-square-foot headquarters as it closes and sells operations in the field. Sunoco has sold its home fuel-truck network, cut retiree benefits, and is shutting and selling Philadelphia-area plants, with guidance from cost-cutters at McKinsey & Co.

By contrast, Sunoco is expanding its coke (steel-mill fuel) operations in the Midwest, and looking for a possible "partner" for the modernization of its Toledo, Ohio, refinery, chief executive Lynn L. Elsenhans told analysts in a conference call Nov. 5.

Sunoco is also talking to buyers for its chemical factories, including its Bridesburg plant and some of its Marcus Hook works. "We got bids in September," chief financial officer Brian McDonald said in the conference call. "We're hopeful we'll have a decision by the end of the year."

Who might need a big piece of Sunoco's space in a prime building like the pyramid-topped Mellon? Accountant KPMG, Beneficial Bank, stockbroker Janney Montgomery Scott, and lawyers White & Williams and Cozen & O'Connor have been looking lately, office brokers tell me.

Posted by Joseph N. DiStefano @ 10:58 AM  Permalink | 2 comments
Comments   
Posted 06:44 PM, 11/10/2009
Fernando08
Sun must be taking a real beating what with oil prices so depressed and everything.
Posted 11:05 AM, 11/11/2009
distefj
Nando, old man, Sunoco doesn't produce oil, it buys and refines oil, then sells the refined product. Oil prices are going up cause (a) the dollar's going down and (b) China and India are buying more of it. But Sunoco doesn't sell in China and India, it sells in the U.S., where (c) oil demand is going down. So they're paying more for oil, but they can't pass it on to the consumer like they'd want to. Got it?
2 comments
About Joseph N. DiStefano
Joseph N. DiStefano writes this blog to feed his PhillyDeals column, which is printed in the business pages of The Philadelphia Inquirer every Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Joe has worked at the Inquirer, mostly, since 1988. He has also written for Bloomberg and Gannett, authored the book Comcasted, majored in economics at Penn, and fathered six children. Reach Joe at 215-854-5194 and JoeD@phillynews.com

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