Vanguard breaks ground for new building

Mutual fund giant adds space on Malvern campus as it grows its assets under management

EAST WHITELAND » Vanguard broke ground Monday on a new office building in its Malvern West campus.

The building will attach to the two existing office buildings Vanguard now has on the campus, an 87-acre property that it bought from Pfizer Inc. in 2012. The tract is approved for another building but the mutual fund giant has not announced plans for a fourth building on the campus adjacent to its headquarters.

Monday’s ceremony was attended by Vanguard executives, county and township officials, representatives from Erdy McHenry Architects, which designed the building, and Turner Construction, which will build it.

The 240,000-square-foot, four-story office building is expected to be ready for occupancy in summer 2019. It will feature 300 collaboration spaces. Some 1,600 employees, or crew members as the company refers to them, will work in the building, the company said.

Vanguard officials declined to give a cost for the project.

Chief Financial Officer Mike Rollings said the ground-breaking was another indication of the company’s growth. It started in 1975 with $2 billion in assets under management; today it has $4.9 trillion.

“Malvern has been Vanguard’s home town since it was started in 1975 with less than 50 people,” Rollings noted.

When the third building is finished, the Malvern West Campus will have 3,000 employees and 12,000 of Vanguard’s 17,000 employees will work in Chester County, a company spokesperson said. Inside hallways will connect the three buildings

The new building will have a sustainability component with focuses on storm water management, energy efficiency and increased occupant comfort with improved access to natural light and exterior views, the company said.

The Malvern area location helps Vanguard with employee recruitment, Rollings said, because it’s close enough to Philadelphia for those who prefer urban living while also attractive to those who want to live in the suburbs. The new building, he said, “is an investment in our crew members.”

“We’ve been here 42 years

and have no plans to move,” Rollings added.

Monday’s ground-breaking came on the fifth anniversary of Vanguard buying the property, which had been the workplace for employees of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals before Pfizer bought it and moved operations.

“We lucked out when this opened up,” company spokeswoman Arianna Stefanoni Sherlock said before the ceremony began.

Chester County Commissioners Michelle Kichline and Terence Farrell attended the event and said Vanguard’s growth reflects well on the area.

Kichline said the region’s educational institutions deserve some of the credit.

“It shows they’re producing graduates with the type of talent that companies like Vanguard are looking for,” said Kichline, chairwoman of the county board of commissioners.

Farrell said it’s good news when the county’s largest employer continues to show its commitment.

“It’s heartening,” he said. “We’re looking forward to the next 42 years.”

To contact Business Writer Brian McCullough, call 610-235-2655 or send an email to bmccullough@21stcenturymedia.com.

PETE BANNAN — DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Breaking ground Monday at Vanguard’s new 240,000-square-foot building at the firm’s 87-acre Malvern West Campus, adjacent to its main headquarters are left to right; Matthew Copenhaver, Vanguard real estate & facilities representative; Paul Begin,...

SUBMITTED An artist’s rendering shows what the Vanguard Malvern West Campus will look like when a third building there is completed in summer 2019.

PETE BANNAN — DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Vanguard Chief Financial Officer Michael Rollings speaks at the ground-breaking for a new, 240,000-square-foot building at the firm’s 87-acre Malvern West campus, adjacent to its main headquarters, on Monday. The innovative building, which will...

PETE BANNAN — DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Vanguard broke ground on a new, 240,000-square-foot building at the firm’s 87-acre Malvern West campus, adjacent to its main headquarters on Monday.

PETE BANNAN — DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Vanguard’s Brennan Boulevard entrance, site of the mutual fund giant’s new, 240,000-squarefoot building planned for opening in the summer of 2019.

PETE BANNAN — DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Vanguard Chief Financial Officer Michael Rollings speaks at the ground-breaking on the company’s new 240,000-square-foot building.