Campbell Soup makes announcement to build.

Posted at 3:00 PM, Feb. 8, 2007

Campbell Soup made an official annnouncement today about their expansion in Camden. See the Courier-Post Article below.

Bart Erickson
HouseJeanie Team

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CAMPBELL PHOTOS
For a photo gallery of Campbell Soup Co. past and present, go to www.courierpostonline.com/galleries

Campbell Soup Co.'s announcement this week to step out of its corporate ivory tower and enter the city's torturous redevelopment fray stems from three years of high-level talks with the city, county and state.

South Jersey's only Fortune 500 company announced on Wednesday its ambitious plan to build a new world headquarters and a 110-acre office park in Camden that would be attractive to world-class companies.

The company wanted to enhance its 1957-style world headquarters so it could keep its staff and entice the best and brightest from competing companies. But building an imposing headquarters with a fitness center, tree-lined walking paths and a cafeteria befitting one of the world's most successful food companies didn't seem compatible with the neighborhood.

Campbell toyed with moving out of Camden and out of the state, but kept coming back to the same conclusion -- that it would really rather stay in Camden.

The solution, said CEO Douglas R. Conant, was to control the neighborhood, or at least a 110-acre corner of it, by letting the company's real estate team, which has built properties around the globe, run the show.

Building a modern business park with excellent road access and Campbell Soup as an anchor is a novel approach for the city. But the project is smaller and more focused than prior plans, does not require any residents to relocate and brings together the city's largest private employer and taxpayer with city, county and state governments.

Today, Campbell is in a gritty hollow of confusing and poorly maintained roads on the south side of Admiral Wilson Boulevard, surrounded by vacant ground, parking lots and a handful of businesses.

It has no visibility unless you happen to be staring at the front door of world headquarters. Parents dropping their kids at the company's award winning day-care center have to cross 10th Street, a curvy launching pad for motorists headed out of the city.

Under a complex agreement announced Wednesday by Gov. Jon S. Corzine, Camden County Freeholder-Director Louis Cappelli Jr., Mayor Gwendolyn Faison and Conant, Campbell will invest $72 million in a new world headquarters. Some roads will disappear or be reconfigured, but the existing Campbell footprint -- now about 36 acres -- will grow to 40 acres to accommodate the new building and park space.

Control over another 70 acres is included in the deal, giving Campbell a clear shot from its headquarters to the boulevard.

Government entities will contribute $26 million to redesign the obsolete road network and upgrade sewer connections, providing a backbone for an office park.

Campbell did not say how many buildings would be included in the park, or how long it would take to build.

"We're not looking for a lifetime achievement award here," said Jerry Buckley, a Campbell spokesman, indicating that the company wants to see this happen in the short term.

Campbell will make a payment in lieu of taxes on its new building, which is expected to cost between $23 million and $35 million, for 15 years. Then the company expects to pay about $2 million a year in property taxes, up from its current payment of $1.3 million, said Conant.

Recognizing Campbell's long history in the city -- the company was founded in 1869 -- Conant said it's time to stop dwelling on the past and look to the future.

"This campus will be the new face of Campbell Soup Company in Camden," said Conant, who has been transforming the company financial and marketplace profile since he took charge six years ago.

While this project represents a higher level of participation in city life, Conant said the company has been active for years through its foundation. On average, the Campbell Soup Foundation contributes $1.5 million a year to to help nonprofit organizations with their work in city housing, education, heath care and economic development.

Corzine said the collaboration represents "an important sign of renewal for the city."

Faison said Campbell Soup's name is synonymous with the city.

And Cappelli, who said he will look to the Delaware River Port Authority and the federal government to come up with the county's $5 million commitment to the project, said job retention and creation is essential for the city's survival.

About 80 percent of Campbell's 1,200 employees live in New Jersey. Another 500 contractors -- from cooks to security to information specialists -- also work at the Camden plant.

"Only a small percentage of the work force live in Camden and most of them are independent contractors," Conant said.

Reach Eileen Stilwell at (856) 486-2464 or estilwell@courierpostonline.com
Published: February 08. 2007 3:10AM