Philly planning officials expect more major real estate projects in 2022 despite partial expiration of property tax relief

Philadelphia officials expect a slew of major construction projects to continue in 2022, despite the partial expiration of a tax incentive late last year that made some real estate developments more profitable.

Last year, a record 90 construction projects were launched before the Civic Design Review Committeewhich is responsible for offering non-binding suggestions on Philadelphia’s largest development proposals as part of the city’s building approvals process, Department of Planning and Development officials said at a Tuesday briefing. .

The increase, which has been about double the number examined by the panel in most years, came as developers raced to take full advantage of the city’s 10-year property tax abatement for new constructions, officials said. Beginning January 1, the city began phasing out the reduction by reducing its value by 10% per year.

Major projects reviewed by CDR’s board of directors last year included Alterra Property Group’s planned 275-unit apartment building at 4301 Chestnut St., a 330-unit residential apartment building under development by Southern Land Co., at 416-38 Spring Garden St., and the Durst Organization’s proposal for a 360-unit residential building on formerly city-owned land between Vine and Callowhill streets on the North Christopher Columbus Blvd.

With low interest rates on construction loans and most property tax cuts still in place, development looks set to continue over the coming year, said Eleanor Sharpe, executive director of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.

“Silver is still cheap in the market,” she said. “So even if the tax allowance has been changed, there will be people who will take advantage of what it is today as opposed to what it is next year.”

Due to this planned activity and a backlog of projects left over from last year, planning officials intend to apply tighter deadlines and other measures to give staff more time to process requests for new projects.

The biggest change is that developers are being asked to submit their projects for consideration by CDR’s board of directors four weeks before scheduled hearing dates, instead of the three weeks allowed in previous years.

“We want to make sure the development community has all the predictability they need to go through this process as smoothly as possible,” said Beige Berryman, head of the Planning Commission.