For a consecutive quarter, Philadelphia records more than one million square feet in leasing volume

Despite rising concerns over the spread of the highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant, workers are slowly returning to the office. The city of Philadelphia reinstated a mask mandate to slow infection rates but has not ordered another quarantine. In a positive sign for the region, there was a consecutive quarter of 1.1 million square feet (msf) of transactions; however, at 3.0 msf, year-to-date volume is still below that seen in the first three quarters of 2020. The submarkets that recorded the most leasing activity included West Market (154,540 square feet (sf)), PA Turnpike/Route 202 Corridor (102,186 sf) and Burlington County (79,923 sf). In a surprising announcement, drugstore company Rite Aid revealed plans to move its headquarters from its long-time location in Camp Hill to 23,500 sf at 1200 Intrepid Avenue in the Navy Yard. Rite Aid has instituted a “remote-first” policy causing it to downsize its footprint, but the company still desires a location for employees to collaborate. Other transactions executed during the third quarter include Nouryon’s sublease of 39,466 sf at 1 Radnor Corporate Center located in the Radnor submarket, ACI Technologies' renewal of its 36,385-sf lease at 1 International Plaza located in the Southeast Delaware County submarket and Merakey’s relocation (28,384 sf) at 159 E County Line Road in the Lower Bucks County submarket.

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