Features
BURLE Business Park is an active and well populated multipurpose business and industrial facility. Companies of all types are engaged in operations ranging from professional office and education to manufacturing, production, distribution and technology. A unique feature of the site is the 24 hour live security presence combined with camera surveillance. Burle Park’s electricians and mechanical staff are present at the facility for any maintenance service needs. The park also employs full service IT and phone support staff.
Amenities include a staffed cafeteria serving hot breakfast and a full luncheon menu, a fireside coffee café, a free all-tenant conference room complete with a widescreen HD TV for presentations. Free wireless internet is provided in all of these areas. There are vending areas for round-the-clock access to beverages and food. Catering is available to all areas of the facility in coordination with the on-site food provider, Distinctive Affairs Catering. Large garden courtyards with umbrella tables and benches are enjoyed spring through fall. Tenants may use these areas for parties and company events at no cost.
Burle is ideal for creating a one-site location made up of very different elements of a business operation. There are areas with total climate control capability, including humidity control and heavy power as well as very practical and utilitarian production spaces with high ceilings and heavy floor load capability for racking heavy objects. Warehouse space is plentiful with many loading docks and doors providing easy access. Restrooms, maintained by the Park staff are plentiful and within close proximity to all tenant occupied locations. An extensive recycling program for metals, batteries, mixed waste, cardboard, glass and aluminium touches nearly every part of plant operations. Being responsible stewards of the earth has long been part of the history of the facility as a center for innovative reuse of all possible materials.
Aside from location, the best quality about the Burle Business Park is the ability to adapt existing space to the specialized and individual needs of a tenant. The solid building construction allows for complete customization without sacrificing high structural quality. Consolidation of multipurpose uses in a functional environment is a specialty and one which has materialized in the redevelopment and repurposing much of the park. Plentiful, free parking for tenants and a commitment to the total maintenance and comfort needs of their staff round out the best features and amenities of the BURLE Business Park.
History
BURLE Business Park in Lancaster, PA is a multi tenant adaptive reuse Commercial and Industrial Business Park. Originally the central building at the facility was opened in 1942 as a U.S. Navy plant for the production of submarine radar detection equipment. Following WWII the property was purchased by Radio Corporation of America (RCA) for the manufacture of radio and microwave tubes. With the invention of the television picture tube, and the subsequent color picture tube, demand for television sets exploded. Literally millions of color television picture tubes were manufactured and distributed from this facility to the rest of the world.
Over the years the Park grew and changed. Many additional buildings were added to the site from the late 1940’s though 1965 using state-of-the-art modern construction principals and innovative building concepts. For many years over 6000 people worked at this facility, spanning three shifts. There were also special amenities like a putting green, a softball diamond and even a helipad for quick trips to and from RCA’s new location, New York City’s Rockefeller Center. In 1986 RCA was sold to General Electric Corporation. Among other upgrades, General Electric refitted the facility with over $1 Million dollars of all new high voltage redundant electrical services.
In 1987 a partnership made up of a group of employees from RCA’s New Products Division, which was headed by Dr. Erich Burlefinger, purchased the property from General Electric. In doing so they became landlord to three of the major technology companies of that time, which acquired portions of the RCA operations. Thomson Consumer Electronics, Phillips and Burle Industries Inc. were the three major technology players at that time and initially those three companies utilized most of the space in the facility. As space became available it was leased out to other companies.
Over the years many different types of businesses have found the diverse and highly functional buildings ideal for their purposes. Over 40 companies now fill over 90% of the facility which has experienced adaptive reuse and retrofit of over 1,000,000.00 square feet in the last 10 years. Over 1800 people now come to work or school at the site on first shift. Round the clock production operations and innovative technology uses are still present at the facility.