Four Takeaways from the 2023 Greater Center City Housing Trends Report

Conversions of Office Spaces to Residential Use

For 25 years, Philadelphia has been a national leader in converting vacant office and industrial buildings to residential and hotel use. Since the passage of the 10-year tax abatement for the preservation and conversion of vacant office and industrial space to residential and hotel use. More than 40 major office buildings comprising 8.2 million square feet have been converted, including recent developments such as the Canopy by Hilton in the Stephen Girard Building and the historic Bellevue building on South Broad Street. Over the long run, this has helped the downtown grow denser and attract more residents.

For more information around the evolution of the office district, check out our recap from the December 2022 CPDC meeting.

The Changing Philadelphia Housing Market

Since declining significantly in 2020 and 2021, the median price of single family homes in core Center City have rebounded to $825,000, approximately 13% below the 2019 level. Meanwhile, the median price of condominiums was $371,500, 2% above the 2019 level. Rentals, on the other hand, have soared in terms of the number of units leased according to data from CoStar, with 3,700 units in 2021, the largest net absorption of any year in the past two decades.

The Role of Center City District and Collaborations

Since 1991, Center City District has partnered with the government to improve support and supplement the City’s efforts downtown. This has never been more essential than the past three years, where safety and cleanliness efforts by ourselves and 15 other neighborhood-based, business improvement districts have become paramount to the recovery of Center City. Future work by citywide government, especially around economic development strategy, should avoid false choices between downtown and neighborhoods, and instead focus on how success comes from inclusive growth and mutual support.