Central Philadelphia Development Corporation

CPDC membership provides exclusive access to programming and networking opportunities to expand your business in Center City Philadelphia.

Since its inception, CPDC has undertaken a number of initiatives to make Center City Philadelphia a more competitive place to do business.

Learn more about Industry leaders who are invested in the future of Center City Philadelphia.

Your business belongs in the heart of Philadelphia, the 5th largest metropolitan region in the country, a destination of choice for companies seeking a thriving urban setting.

Join the hundreds of business leaders making a difference in Center City.

State of Center City 2021: Restoring, Returning, Reanimating, is a comprehensive overview of marketplace conditions in Philadelphia at the end of 2020. It provides detailed profiles of the diverse employment sectors that comprise the downtown economy, highlighting strengths and challenges as we entered 2021. It includes information on housing and transportation trends and serves as a report on CCD operations and their impact in the last year.

This is a transformational moment for Philadelphia, when investments in economic development funded by the American Rescue Plan (ARP) can be combined with the long-recommended changes to Philadelphia's tax structure to prompt faster and more equitable citywide job growth.

Job recovery has been slow but steady. Employment increased by 3,500 jobs in May to 674,800, restoring 34% of 114,400 jobs lost in 2020. The percent of office workers back at desks remains low among larger firms; smaller firms came back more quickly. Residents, tourists and shoppers have brought pedestrian volumes back to 62% of June 2019. SEPTA ridership is up; outdoor cafes are flourishing. After Labor Day, higher ed, major firms and performing arts will all be back.

CPDC's bi-weekly newsletter with a roundup of real estate, development, economic, government and other news concerning Center City Philadelphia.

Greater Center City housing markets showed extraordinary resilience in the last year. While the pandemic impaired many parts of Philadelphia’s economy, the housing sector recovered quickly citywide, buoyed by historically low interest rates and continued interest in city living.

Demand for Center City retail has been built upon a diversified base of office, education and health care workers, a large and growing downtown population and an expanding number of tourists and convention attendees. At the center of the region’s highway and transit system, Center City is the most concentrated employment node in the region, hosting 42% of Philadelphia’s jobs, creating opportunity for residents of all city neighborhoods and surrounding counties.