2022 Review: Philadelphia Universities Drive Real Estate Growth

2022 in Review: Local universities drive growth with capital projects and real estate deals

Though higher education leaders continue to grapple with decreasing enrollment, that didn’t stop Philadelphia-area universities from growing their real estate footprints in 2022.

In many cases, colleges and universities played the role of real estate developers, with planned nine-figure price tag developments, proposed renovations of historic buildings and the addition of campuses.

Life sciences boom

As the life sciences industry continues to boom in Philadelphia, specifically in University City, higher education institutions are proving some of the main drivers. Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania in particular are snapping up real estate as they plan to develop new centers in the field.

In March, Drexel, along with Gattuso Development Partners, shared plans to build a $400 million, 500,000-square-foot research and lab building at 3201 Cuthbert St. A few months later in June, Penn, in partnership with Longfellow Real Estate Partners, proposed a $365 million, 455,000-square-foot biomanufacturing building at Pennovation Works. More recently, Drexel opened its 12-story, 460,000-square-foot health sciences building in December, which will house all of its health sciences programs.

Outside of University City, Temple is planning to turn its decades-old library into its new home for the College of Public Health. Paley Hall, which was built 1966, will see a 120,000-square-foot expansion that will add two stories onto the three-story building. The project has a construction budget of $120 million.

Courtesy of: Philadelphia Business Journal
For full article, please visit: https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2022/12/28/2022-in-review-higher-ed-capital-projects.html