UCD Data Digest: Construction Permits on the Rise

After a pause in the first months of the pandemic, construction in University City has rebounded and then some. During the first quarter of 2020, there were just two permits issued in University City, down from five a year earlier. This trend played out across the city, with WHYY reporting that only four new construction permits were issued across the entire city in April 2020, down from 122 in 2019.

After the moratorium on all but the most essential construction ended in May of 2020, the rate of new construction quickly exceeded any of the previous four years. By the last quarter of 2021, West Philadelphia registered its highest level of new construction permits over any period of the last six years. This spike is likely an outlier, with developers submitting permits prior to modifications to the 10-year tax abatement, which went into effect on January 1st, 2022.

Regardless, construction has definitely picked up again. While the most visible new projects have been built around the eastern edge of the district nearer to the Schuylkill River, most of the building boom in University City has in fact been in the northern central part of the district, where a mix of student housing and apartment buildings has risen in recent years. With major projects breaking ground along Chestnut Street and around uCity Square, there are very few signs that this boom will slow down anytime soon.  

When we zoom out from University City District to look at West Philadelphia as a whole, we see some patterns emerge. New construction has moved even faster just outside of University City’s boundaries, expanding in a ring around the district. Neighborhoods like Mantua, Powelton, Cedar Park, and eastern Kingsessing have seen the highest concentrations of permits. While development in Mantua is often tied to apartments targeted at Drexel University students, the neighborhoods further west have seen more development of single-family homes, condos, and mixed-use projects along commercial corridors.  

For a visual representation of how permits have been issued over time, we built this animation that shows monthly new construction permits, between 2016 and March 2022. For a more robust look at development in our neighborhood, please check out our State of University City 2022 publication, published in January of this year.