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.

Philadelphia has continued its slow but steady job recovery in September, led by growth in educational services, leisure, hospitality and government and supplemented by the gradual return of office workers. As a result, the unemployment rate declined. Rising transit ridership, parking occupancy and pedestrian volumes reflect the full return of colleges and universities, the reopening of performing arts venues, the steady return of tourists, convention attendees, regional shoppers and the partial return office workers. With the holiday shopping season just beginning and, assuming no recurring health crises, the recovery will accelerate.

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.

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

On September 28, 2021, CPDC hosted an in-person panel discussion at the Union League about real estate industry trends, as highlighted in CPDC’s just released, annual Developments report (live link) The Union League required that everyone have proof of vaccination on hand and all attendees really appreciate the opportunity to catch at the first full, in-person CPDC meeting in 19 months.

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.