What selling the multimillion dollar Thermo Fisher Scientific PPD building could mean for Wilmington

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — In Wilmington, Thermo Fisher Scientific is in the beginning stages of seeking new office space, preparing to sell the multimillion dollar space PPD built 15 years ago.

It could either mean one of downtown’s most recognizable towers could sit empty, or it could expand existing businesses or introduce new businesses to the region.

The PPD headquarters was built along the Wilmington Riverfront in 2007. With the help of an economic incentive grant from the city, PPD committed to growing and hiring locally.

Thermo Fisher Scientific bought PPD last year, and with more employees working remotely, the company is searching for a smaller space and selling the building.

“The building was not fully occupied. A lot of people were working from home, a lot of PPD employees I do know have been working from home for many years. They, like a lot of businesses have chosen to have a lot of remote workers working from home. That seems to be the new fad, and COVID I think accelerated that,” said Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo.

This isn’t the first local company to move in this direction. In February, the former Verizon call center sold for $16.5 million.

“Quality existing space, whether it’s an office, warehouse, distribution or manufacturing space, is at a premium,” explained Wilmington Business Development’s (WBD) CEO, Scott Satterfield.

WBD works to bring jobs and businesses to the Cape Fear. Satterfield believes this space could lead to additional businesses moving to the city, or local businesses expanding further downtown.

“It’s a building that will have, I’m sure a lot of opportunities to continue to be a catalyst for investment and tax base and job creation,” he continued.

According to Satterfield and Saffo, PPD and Thermo Fisher have been good community partners, encouraging economic growth. But with a portion of Thermo Fisher’s 1,700 local employees moving to hybrid or working from home models, would the company still hire locally after the building sells?

“I hope so. I mean, that’s one of the things that we have seen is that they have been hiring. That they have continued to hire. We hope obviously that they will remain in the community. but more importantly, continue to hire people in our community,” Saffo said.

We reached out to Thermo Fisher Scientific for an interview. They were not available, but did provide this statement:

“Our commitment to Wilmington as an employer and our involvement in the community remain stronger than ever and, through this relocation, we expect to continue to be a Wilmington growth story for years to come.”