Morning Headlines: University City Leads the City In New Office Construction

Graphs below.

It’s official: University City is in a construction boom and we have the numbers to prove it thanks to the University City District’s annual State of University City report.

According to their findings, not only has their been a huge surge in the neighborhood’s population, but there are thirty-two new development projects that were “advanced or completed” during this cycle alone, totaling to “6.9 million sq. ft. of new office, research, residential, academic and medical facilities in addition to nearly 2.2 acres of public space.”

Naked Philly’s Lou Mancinelli points out that the biggest increase in new University City construction has been in private investment, which has earned the neighborhood first place when it comes to office construction in the Philadelphia: “82% of all office construction in the region taking place in UC.”

Related to that, the report also found that office occupancy was highest in UC than any other submarket in Philadelphia (the report says there are twenty-seven), boasting 96% occupancy.

All in all, the last five years has brought University City 9.99 million square feet of real estate projects. Check out the full report here to get a full visual of UC’s growth, as well as the housing graph below.

The State of University City 2014/2015 [University City District]

• H/T: The Developing State of University City [Naked City]

In other news…

Councilman wants real estate taxes owed to city [Tribune]

Conference to look at region’s affordable housing [Inquirer]

With multiple developments planned, is Washington Avenue being primed for a new beginning? [Passyunk Post]

Tis the season for the Holiday House Tour in Chestnut Hill (gallery)[NewsWorks]

Haas Family gift of 39 acres and buildings prompts estate preservation ordinance in Lower Merion [Main Line Times]