Building Boom Expands Past Center City

Center City Philadelphia is on the grow… but what else is new? The city’s ultra-chic downtown core has been on the upswing for years now. Over 5,000 apartment units have been created since 2012, proving that the housing market here is hot, hot, hot. The latest numbers show that plenty of nail-banging is going on as no less than 4,000 units are under construction in Center City. New high-end projects are achieving record-setting rents of over $3 per square foot and attracting institutional capital to the market for the first time. In fact, the building craze is so widespread that it has actually started spreading to other adjacent neighborhoods. The boom is creeping, so to speak.

This chart shows the incredible housing boom taking place in and around Center City.

As per a new JLL Philadelphia report, multifamily unit construction is on the rise in other areas of Philadelphia, including University City, Old City, Brewerytown, and up and down Broad Street. University City alone has seen 598 new rentals rise this year, proving that arriving PHiladelphia residents are expanding their home search beyond Center City. In University City’s case, this makes a lot of sense. The area is home to many universities (no kidding, right?), and has the fastest-growing skyline of any Philadelphia neighborhood.

JLL specifically addressed the boom on Broad Street – both north and south – designating it as a major indicator of the city’s building state. “If successful in lease-up, the volume of new residents on Broad Street is likely to have a catalytic impact on future development along this corridor,” read the report. One example of that growth is the Lincoln Square mixed-use project on South Broad and Washington Avenue, which will bring with it 322 new apartments this year. North Broad has seen its share of growth too with several developments including Hanover North Broad, which is finishing up construction and will bring 339 apartments into the mix.