Philadelphia's biggest new office lease of 2017 came just ahead of the holiday season, and is representative of its tenant's transformative year.

Jefferson, the new umbrella under which Thomas Jefferson University has brought together recent acquisitions Aria Health, Abington Health, Kennedy Health System and Philadelphia University, has signed a long-term lease for 237K SF at 1101 Market St., which will be renamed Jefferson Tower.

The 634K SF building is owned by local charity Girard Estate, which will renovate the lobby, add Jefferson signage to the crown of the building, and connect it directly with the concourse for SEPTA's Jefferson Station regional rail hub.

Jefferson Tower will serve as a headquarters for the expanded operations of one of the most aggressive movers in the region's healthcare market, two blocks from Thomas Jefferson University's main campus. Its initial lease will take the top 14 of the building's 32 floors when it moves in starting in 2019, with options to expand into lower levels over time.

The building's last anchor tenant, Aramark, will be moving operations into the redeveloped 2400 Market St. in 2018. Located in the Market East subsection of Center City, Jefferson Tower will be across the street from a completed East Market development.

A Savills Studley team of Senior Vice President and Philadelphia Branch Manager Hether Smith, Cathy Pullen and Jay Joyce represented Jefferson in the lease, while a JLL team of Joshua Sloan, David Healy and Alex Breitmayer represented Girard Estate.