Story and Photo By Joe Zlomek

Want a way to promote a real estate project that's steeped in controversy from its start? Hire a consultant to tout its benefits to the community.

That's exactly what Comcast Corp. and office developer Liberty Property Trust did in conjunction with the grand opening last month (June 2008) of Comcast Center in Philadelphia.

Comcast Center, a joint venture for the two firms, now stands at 58 stories as one of the tallest sustainably-designed buildings in the country. Opening ceremonies were held June 6 (2008), the Philadelphia Business Journal reported.

When the project was proposed in 2005, opponents railed against government subsidies for its construction, and worried about glutting the Philadelphia market with office space. A report by EConsult, a Philadelphia research and consulting firm specifically hired to examine the building's impact, addresses those concerns and more.

The tower's construction "created 17,200 jobs and generated $2 billion of economic activity for Pennsylvania, according to (the EConsult) study," the Business Journal says. Philadelphia's "share of that was $1.2 billion in activity, including 5,400 jobs and $210 million in earnings," the Journal adds.

Annual state tax revenues generated by the project, estimated by EConsult at $49 million, will in just one year offset the $42.2 million Pennsylvania granted to help get Comcast Center built.

The EConsult study also claims that, rather than flooding the market with new office space, the office vacancy rate has dipped to about 10 percent. Rents, in contrast, have risen by 16 percent, the study says.