CENTER CITY (KYW Newsradio) — Officials at Philadelphia’s Center City District said the city’s downtown is well into its revitalization after the pandemic five years ago, and new housing that’s brought a boost to population is doing a lot to help the effort.
Greater Center City saw a 44% jump in housing units and a 12.5% increase in population, according to permit data from Philadelphia’s Department of Licenses and Inspections, which the Center City District analyzes for its annual housing report.
The report for 2025 came out on March 4.
Clint Randall, vice president of economic development for Center City District said with the population returning to Center City, more retailers are also setting up shop.
“It’s no longer as much about trying to capture the spending power of the office worker. It’s more about being cognizant of the fact that the population has grown so significantly and with that so has the spending power of downtown neighborhoods,” said Randall.
The report says Center City hit a record number of 3,811 housing completions in 2024.
“This ongoing clustering of housing in the core is itself a kind of return to office strategy and it’s also a business attraction strategy,” said Randall.
Zillow puts the average rental cost in center city is around $2000 per month.
The Center City District said that’s reasonably affordable compared to cities like New York, Boston, Chicago and Washington D.C.