Apartment vacancy in Center City continues to decline even as developers accelerate conversions of distressed office towers into hundreds of new residential units, writes Paul Schwedelson for the Philadelphia Business Journal.
“There’s certainly tremendous amount of demand for people to live here in Center City,” said Alterra Property Group Principal Connor Burke. “We’ve seen that firsthand.”
One of Alterra’s latest projects, 17 Market West, reached 90 percent occupancy in less than a year after opening, compared with the typical 18-to-24-month lease-up period for a 299-unit apartment building.
The development transformed a former 305,170-square-foot office building into residential units. The company is now working with TF Cornerstone, a New York developer, on the conversion of the historic Wanamaker building into 622 apartments.
Over the next few years, developers aim to bring more than 1,000 new apartments to Center City, while industry insiders expect demand will remain strong enough to support the added supply.
Apartment vacancy in Center City has declined to 7.4 percent, down from a 12.4 percent high in 2020. The rate closely matches the metro area’s 7.2 percent vacancy and sits below the national average of 8.6 percent.
Read more about the Center City apartment vacancy in the Philadelphia Business Journal.
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on PHILADELPHIA.Today in May 2026.
