Pennsylvania

Accessibility, amenities and coworking spaces are driving the suburban and urban real estate markets in Philadelphia. While suburban office tenants prefer to have access to transit and amenities, Center City office tenants seek experiences and collaboration with new coworkers. Suburban Perspective The Philadelphia suburban market consists of 59.4 million square feet comprising 13 distinct submarkets. The majority of this inventory consists of dated commodity office space, mostly built prior to 1990. With an overall vacancy rate of 20.8 percent and average asking rents of $24.90 per square foot, the Philadelphia suburban market has been less dynamic than its Center City counterpart. Although many older properties suffer from functional obsolescence, well-maintained assets with access to major roadways/public transit and amenities outperform the market average. For example, the Radnor, Conshohocken and Bala Cynwyd submarkets remain the three strongest submarkets in the region. Vacancy rates in these markets range from 2 to 14 percent, with average asking rents ranging from $30.75 to $37.00 per square foot. All three of these submarkets have immediate access to major roadways, public transit and amenities. Suburban office developers have taken note of the strong fundamentals in these areas as well as Center City Philadelphia. They have created …