The History of Henderson

On his return from military service in 1947, Wilbur C. Henderson joined the family business his father started in 1923 in West Philadelphia, constructing small commercial and residential buildings. Wilbur C. Henderson brought with him the fundamental concepts on which the business has succeeded: prime site location, quality and efficient construction and tenant satisfaction through personal service and prompt response to tenant requirements. Wilbur developed the concept of flexible buildings, easily adaptable to the varying business needs of different tenants.

In 1953, Wilbur C. Henderson began to assemble parcels of land for industrial and commercial building and development in Philadelphia and Delaware County. He successfully implemented the concept of park grouping of commercial buildings, with parks located near the Philadelphia International Airport, railways and major interstate highways including: the Folcroft West Business Park in Folcroft and the Folcroft East Business Park in Sharon Hill.

In 1976, Wilbur C. Henderson acquired 38 acres on the southwest corner of the highly travelled Route 202 business corridor at its intersection with Route 1, and he developed the Chadds Ford Business Campus, as a suburban office campus. He later acquired and developed the southeast corner of the intersection as the Village at Painters’ Crossing Shopping Center and Painters’ Crossing Office Campus as a build-to-suit for a major tenant. Recently, he acquired a twenty acre parcel adjoining the shopping center for future development.

Using a Colonial Williamsburg motif, Wilbur C. Henderson developed and constructed nine office buildings as the picturesque Chesley Office Campus, located on Baltimore Pike in Media, PA. The Hampton Building in Chesley Office Campus is the corporate home of the Henderson Group today.

Wilbur C. Henderson acquired over 230 acres, adjoining the Philadelphia International Airport, aptly named the Airport Business Center. He developed 125,000 square feet of flex space and developed and subsequently sold an office park of 375,000 square feet of office space. He has retained over 100 acres for future development in accordance with Airport expansion plans.

Henderson Group, Inc. or The Henderson Group¹, was incorporated in 1986 to: locate and develop commercial real estate property; design and supervise construction of commercial buildings, campuses and parks; supervise the leasing and management of the properties of the Henderson commercial real estate portfolio; and provide tenant services.

Wilbur C. Henderson also acquired and developed 469,000 square feet of office and industrial buildings in Melbourne, Florida with excellent airport accessibility.

¹ The Henderson Group is the registered fictitious name for Henderson Group, Inc., and references to The Henderson Group mean Henderson Group, Inc. and not an association of the various Henderson entities.