More Jobs Mean A Good '16 for Philly

There are a number of reasons to be optimistic about Philadelphia's commercial and residential markets in '16, but maybe the best is that the region's a job-creating machine. That's why we're excited to hear from the experts at Bisnow's Philadelphia 2016 Forecast on Tuesday, Dec. 15, beginning at 7:30am at 401 North Broad.

With 2.7 million payroll jobs, the Philadelphia metro area already ranks as the eighth-largest job market in the nation, MRP Realty managing director Charley McGrath, who will be a speaker at our event, points out. And a lot of those jobs are primo. Center City, for instance, is home to the largest cluster of high-paying jobs in the region (293,700 jobs representing more than 43% of all jobs in Philadelphia), with 40% requiring a bachelor’s or postgraduate degree.

More specifically, Philadelphia’s fast-growing biomedical and pharmaceutical industries have brought 14 major pharmaceutical firms and nearly 100 biotech firms to the area, Charley notes. Eight of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies are within a 50-mile radius of Philadelphia, including AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen Biotech, Merck, and Novo Nordisk.

Philly's also a well-educated place: 57% of Center City residents have at least a bachelor’s, while 86% of 25- to 34-year-olds hold a BA or higher, Charley tells us. "According to a 2014 Campus Philly survey, 64% of non-natives who arrive in the city for higher education choose to stay after graduation and provide a steady supply of well-educated workers for city employers and occupants for Center City’s expanding housing options," he explains. This is up from 29% in 2004, and even a place like Boston retains only 51% of non-native students.

Millennials now make up 47% of residents in Center City, according to National Real Estate Development managing director Daniel Killinger, but the number of Baby Boomers there will grow by 34% in the next five years, citing Ageing in Cities research. In fact, Center City is now second only to that of midtown Manhattan in size of population among US downtowns, says the State of Center City 2015 report. "These generations are looking for connection and community, and we'll see this as a focus of Philadelphia real estate in 2016," Daniel says.

East Market plans to take advantage of the evolving Center City demographics, Daniel says, with its first phase complete by the end of the year. MOM’s Organic Market will open in late spring, about the same time as leasing starts at the residential apartments, he notes, adding that the Design Center and the first retailers will officially open the project in the fall, creating a new urban experience for both residents and tourists.

Come hear more at our Philadelphia 2016 Forecast at 401 North Broad, beginning at 7:30am on Dec. 15. Sign up here.