PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A new report from Philadelphia’s Center City District showed strong residential growth downtown, led by the conversion of offices to housing.
The report found that more than 4,000 new units were built in Center City, and nearly that many in adjacent neighborhoods between January 2025 and the end of this past June. Clint Randall, Center City District vice president for economic development, said that is an outsized impact.
“Even though it’s a relatively small part of the city, making up only about 6% of the land in Philadelphia, it accounts for 40% of the housing production,” Randall said.
Randall said demand is keeping up with the new supply. In fact, in some areas, vacancy rates decreased. Still, he said, all those new units keep housing costs in check.
“In part because we’ve expanded the inventory so much, we’ve had much slower growth in rent than places like Brooklyn or downtown Boston.”
One feature of this new development is that it’s primarily small — studios and one-bedrooms as opposed to two-or three-bedrooms that could accommodate families. Randall said that is a drawback with no easy solution.
“Infusing these buildings with new life — that’s what’s really driving foot traffic, the street life, the buzz, the vibrancy, and the more we do that, the more it supports retail and restaurants, and it just starts to extend the vitality of Center City,” Randall said.
