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.

This new CCD/CPDC report, Firing on All Cylinders: Growing Jobs and Small Business by Expanding the Traded Sector, compares Philadelphia to five other urban areas in United States. It documents how Philadelphia lags in firms that sell services nationally and globally, but suggests that if we replicate the success achieved by others, we will grow more family-sustaining jobs and a prosperous network of small, local businesses.

Center City’s commercial core is experiencing a sustained process of recovery, with new businesses opening and existing retailers moving to new, often larger locations. In the first quarter of 2022, taxable retail sales reached 94% of 2019 levels and restaurant sales reached 74% of 2019 levels.

When it comes to being a great place to do business and attract talent, Philly works. With a downtown that doesn't stop when the workday ends, Philadelphia offers satisfaction in and out of the office.

On July 28, 2022 CPDC hosted an in-person meeting on retail recovery with guest panelists Paige Jaffe, Managing Director, JLL, Jim Pearlstein, President, Peal Properties, John Usdan, CEO, Midwood Investment and Development and Jacob Cooper, Partner and Managing Director, MSC.

Does Philadelphia have what it takes to recover? This Center City District/Central Philadelphia Development Corporation report examines Philadelphia’s signs of recovery, and remaining challenges, after two years of profound disruption.

Philadelphia continues its slow, steady though uneven recovery. By April, payroll employment citywide rose to 95.6% of February 2020 levels, compared to 99.2% in the nation. The lagging pace reflects the slow rebound in leisure and hospitality employment and the ripple effects of remote work on those jobs that rely on the presence of other workers. Still, the unemployment rate continues to decline and the volume of office workers in Center City continues to rise.

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

For the last two decades, Greater Center City has been the fastest growing residential section of both Philadelphia and the entire region. After a temporary dip in population, the number of downtown residents on sidewalks in Center City had rebounded to 2019 levels by the end of 2021. Rents and home sale prices held up and the number of newly-permitted residential units in both Center City and citywide reached the highest point in decades in 2021.

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.