Center City Insights: Building Back the Daytime Office Population, July 2026

Building Back the Daytime Office Population

A quick look at the office district reveals a dichotomy. The very positive side of the story is that stronger leasing fundamentals are stabilizing some buildings and building back occupancy while others are charting a path forward through residential conversions supported by a strong housing market. The unresolved side of the story is that return-to-office (RTO) has plateaued, with no meaningful uptick in the daytime population of the office district in the last two years.

The opening of Chubb’s headquarters in Center City this year is a recent and high-profile bright spot in this story, with the new building accommodating nearly 3,000 employees and a goal of full-time in-office work. The location at 2000 Arch helps to anchor the western end of the office district, strengthening demand for office-serving retail like the recently opened all-day and late-night coffeeshop MOTW Coffee and Pastries, while also providing new customers for established businesses like Trader Joe’s at 22nd and Market and Giant’s flagship location at 23rd and Arch.

The following pages lay out the momentum building organically in the area, driven by the expansion and attraction of commercial tenants along with the delivery of new apartments and retail. But new workers and residents are just one facet of the area’s transformation. Understanding the attitudes, behaviors, and concerns of established office workers is critical to identifying programs and projects can make the area a more appealing place to go to work.

To that end, Center City District staff will conduct a series of focus groups this fall to hear directly from employees of downtown companies about the things they like most, want to improve, or wish there were more of in Center City. If you or your organization is interested in joining these conversations, drop us a note at research@centercityphila.org

Office Leasing Activity

From 2022 through 2025, deal volume and total square footage leased both rose year over year. 2025 was the strongest leasing year of the postpandemic period, with nearly 2.3 million square feet of space transacting. More leased space signals more workers returning to the office, though actual attendance still depends on each company’s hybrid work policy.

Center City Office Leasing Activity, by Year

Source: CoStar

Flight to Quality

Leasing activity is increasingly concentrated in trophy and upper-level class A assets, reflecting a clear flight to quality in recent years. As companies reassess their space needs, many are choosing smaller footprints in newer, higher-quality buildings that offer stronger amenities, better locations, and a more appealing office experience.

Center City Office Leasing Activity, by Share of Class and Year

Source: CoStar

Occupancy Rate

The flight to quality has helped pull trophy buildings to occupancy rates considered healthy even by pre-pandemic standards. With space becoming more limited in these top-tier buildings, class A buildings stand to benefit from a trickle-down effect, as we see in the most recently available data.

Center City Office Occupancy Rate, by Class

Source: CoStar

Return-to-Office Rates

RTO activity in the West Market office district climbed quickly in 2022 and 2023 as restrictions eased and employers brought more workers back on-site. By 2024, however, the recovery began to level off, suggesting that hybrid work patterns have become more firmly embedded. 2026 office attendance averages 56% of what it was in 2019, drawn down by sharp declines on Mondays and Fridays.

Source: Placer.ai

Residential and Retail Development

Philadelphia’s downtown office district has never been just for workers. Going back to the redevelopment of the area in the mid-20th century, apartments and condominiums were built along JFK Boulevard, placing approximately 1,500 homes in the middle of the high-rise neighborhood. Since then, nearly 3,500 units have been created in the area through conversion, with at least another 500 proposed. Ground-up apartment developments in and around the office district account for another 2,000 units. This has helped spark more dynamic retail offerings over time. Recent additions include MOTW Coffee & Pastries, Cake & Joe, Five Iron Golf, Poke Bowl, and Rhythm and Spirits all joining an existing mix that includes Misconduct Tavern, City Fitness, Vernick Fish, and Naf Naf Grill, among others. A combination of additional housing density and stronger RTO rates will support an even livelier streetscape of retail offerings.

Just-opened and soon-to-open concepts include a new Teddy Sourias’ bar and restaurant at 1515 Market, a beer garden and restaurant in the saucer at LOVE Park from Broad Street Brewing, and the reopening of Real Food Eatery on the ground floor of 1700 Market.

Ongoing investment in proven programs

How can cities, businesses, and organizations like CCD encourage not just in-office attendance, but exploration of the surrounding neighborhood too? For CCD’s part, several of our programs have proven to be effective at improving RTO. Analysis of CCD Sips from recent years revealed that summer Wednesdays saw a bump of more than 5,500 people in the office district on average. Our 2026 edition of Let’s Do Lunch, launching August 3 and running every weekday in August, will bring $10, $15, and $20 deals at dozens of participating restaurants around Center City. From Center City Fit to Arts on Center Stage to special projects like last year’s Water Orchestra collaboration with the Philadelphia Orchestra, programming in CCD-managed parks gives office workers plenty of reasons to stick around.

Piloting of new initiatives

Beginning this fall, the Central Philadelphia Development Corporation (CPDC), a nonprofit organization managed by CCD staff established to convene business leaders and support downtown growth, is rolling out two additional initiatives to support downtown office tenants, better understand current worker sentiment, and engage our daytime office population in local businesses and events.

The first is a collaboration with CoExperiences designed to bring people at downtown employers together through shared, local experiences. Founded during the pandemic, CoExperiences is a Pittsburgh-based company that uses a simple AI-powered platform to match employees with curated, small-group outings. CoExperiences is expanding its platform to Philadelphia, where CPDC member companies will be among the first to have the opportunity to offer their employees ways to connect more easily with one another while supporting Center City businesses and events.

Secondly, we will be working with CPDC member companies to conduct a series of focus groups so that CCD staff can hear directly from employees currently working in downtown office buildings. Through these conversations, we’ll learn what workers love about the office district, what they’d like to see improved, and what they want more of. The information we gather can inform future work with property owners, the City of Philadelphia, and other partners that have a role to play in animating our commercial core.

Why in-office work matters

The relationship between in-office work and Center City’s vibrancy is clear: the more people show up in person, the more our trains, parks, and lunch spots are filled, generating economic activity and a buzz that people want to experience for themselves. But the impact to individual employees goes deeper than tax revenue and crowded sidewalks: in-office experiences and relationships are crucial for providing opportunities for mentorship for the youngest employees, management opportunities for mid-career professionals, and camaraderie and friendships for people at every stage of their working lives. In an increasingly digitally divided world where rates of screen time and loneliness are growing in lockstep, downtowns like Center City offer an antidote to isolation by fostering connection and human interaction.