Wednesday, July 29, 2026
One Philadelphia corridor, four troubled office bets
By Mark Heschmeyer CoStar News
This week’s CMBS Notebook looks at an office stress test playing out along Philadelphia's Market Street.
One Philadelphia corridor, four troubled office bets: Four prominent office properties along a four-block stretch of Philadelphia’s Market Street illustrate the ongoing pressure weighing on the sector in the central business district.
The buildings — 1818, 1700, 1500 and 1515 Market St. — sit within Philadelphia’s Market Street West corridor, where vacancy has risen to 24.3% and demand has weakened since the pandemic, according to CoStar analysis. Collectively, the four properties, totaling 3.7 million square feet of office space, back $836.1 million in commercial mortgage-backed debt.
Among them, 1818 Market is facing some of the steepest challenges. The property’s latest appraisal valued the tower at $158 million, down 44% from its $282.1 million valuation when its loan was originated in 2021, according to Morningstar Credit. The 37-story, roughly 1 million-square-foot office building transferred to special servicing in 2023 after the borrower sought a loan modification. The asset has since entered receivership, and servicers are evaluating liquidation options. Market observers, however, say any sale process could wait until nearby Market Street properties are resolved.
A few blocks east, 1700 Market also has seen its value erode, though its workout process appears further along. The building’s latest appraisal was $168 million, 31% below its value at loan origination, according to Morningstar Credit. The 850,000-square-foot office tower and parking garage transferred to special servicing in 2023 ahead of a looming maturity default. A court-appointed receiver has been marketing the property, and servicer commentary suggests a sale could take place before the end of 2026.
Both 1700 Market and 1818 Market are owned by Shorenstein Properties but are being operated by court-appointed receivers, according to CMBS servicer commentary. Shorenstein declined to comment.
Meanwhile, 1500 Market remains tied up in a lengthy foreclosure and sale process. A planned acquisition fell apart when winning bidder CSC Coliving withdrew its $80 million offer, citing concerns about the economics of Philadelphia’s tax-abatement program, according to a report from The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The two-tower, 1.8 million-square-foot complex has been under receivership since 2023 and was just 34.4% occupied as of March 2026, according to CMBS servicer commentary from Keycorp Real Estate Capital Markets. CBRE has served as the court-appointed receiver since May 2023. CBRE did not respond to a request for comment.
The relative bright spot is 1515 Market. The property recently received a loan modification that extended its debt maturity to 2027 and included a $7 million borrower equity contribution, according to Morningstar Credit. Even so, the 502,000-square-foot office building faces headwinds of its own, including Temple University’s planned departure in June 2027.
Building owner Accesso Partners did not respond to a request for comment.
Monday, July 27, 2026
Pair of investment firms team up to acquire fully leased Lehigh Valley industrial building
By Margaret Sutherland
A partnership between Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based Benchmark Real Estate and Regal Ventures, a New York City-based real estate investment manager, acquired an 85,053-square-foot industrial building in Easton, Pennsylvania, that is fully occupied by Human Active Technology, a designer and manufacturer of ergonomic workspace products ranging from customizable workspace furniture and monitor arms to sit-stand workstations and point-of-sale systems.
The building traded for $7 million, or about $82 per square foot, according to Northampton County property records. The deed was recorded on June 8 under the entity RV Kuebler Road LLC. No brokers were reported to be involved in the transaction.
The buyers plan to expand the Lehigh Valley facility at 100 Kuebler Road by 70,000 square feet to accommodate Human Active Technology's plans to bring its distribution processes on-site. The addition would bring the building's total footprint to roughly 155,000 square feet.
The steel-framed building, constructed in 1972 and renovated in 1993, occupies a 12.4-acre parcel in Forks Industrial Park, a master-planned manufacturing and industrial development in Forks Township, located about 18 miles northeast of Allentown, about 75 miles northwest of Philadelphia, and about 75 miles west of Manhattan.
"By recognizing early that HAT's expanding operations had outgrown their existing footprint, we were able to work with HAT’s plans to present a solution to consolidate local, off-site operations and create meaningful value for both the tenant and the asset," said Mike Callahan, managing partner at Benchmark Real Estate, in a statement announcing the building purchase.
"The Lehigh Valley remains a compelling, small-bay industrial market in the Northeast. Demand stays robust, while vacancy in the 20,000-to-100,000-square-foot segment sits below four percent,” added David Lawrence, director of acquisitions at Regal Ventures. “100 Kuebler Road exemplifies the opportunity we target: a committed occupant, a well-located asset, and a clear path to value creation."
Regal Ventures was founded in 2019 by Alex Smith and Joey Cohen, who previously managed the Cohen family real estate portfolio. The firm focuses on necessity-anchored infill retail in dense urban submarkets and small-bay or flex-industrial assets in supply-constrained metropolitan areas. The Easton acquisition marks the partnership's second Pennsylvania industrial deal with Benchmark. In October 2024, the two firms jointly acquired Crownwood Industrial Estates, a three-building, 218,410-square-foot industrial complex with an adjoining development site at 805 North Wilson Avenue in Bristol, about 22 miles northeast of Philadelphia.
Benchmark Real Estate, established in 2018, maintains a mid-Atlantic investment portfolio spanning industrial, healthcare, senior living and multifamily assets. The firm is an affiliate of Benchmark Construction Company, a Lancaster-based general contractor founded in 1985 whose recent projects include a 50-acre mixed-use senior living development called Tapestrie in Manheim Township, Lancaster County, and the adaptive reuse of a historic Lancaster building into 22 residential loft units.
Tuesday, July 21, 2026
Monday, July 20, 2026
Thursday, July 16, 2026
Thomas Jefferson University to open regional medical college campus in Allentown
By CoStar News Staff
Thomas Jefferson University, a private research university based in Philadelphia formed in 2017 by the merger between the former Thomas Jefferson University and Philadelphia University, announced plans to establish a four-year regional campus of its Sidney Kimmel Medical College in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
The new regional medical campus will span more than 54,000 square feet, encompassing the majority of office space planned at One Center Square, an 87,000-square-foot office building under construction in downtown Allentown. The new building is part of the City Center Allentown mixed-use development led by City Center Investment Corp., a real estate development and management company.
The new regional campus is intended to build on the clinical education partnership between Sidney Kimmel Medical College and Jefferson Health, the clinical partner of Thomas Jefferson University. Jefferson Health operates as a non-profit, multi-state regional health system including 33 hospital campuses and over 700 care sites. During the 2025–2026 academic year, eight physician assistant students and more than 80 medical students completed clinical rotations at Jefferson Health – Lehigh Valley Region hospitals.
"Physicians are more likely to practice where they train. Establishing a four-year campus of Sidney Kimmel Medical College in the Lehigh Valley will expand opportunities for medical education, strengthen regional connections and build a pipeline of physicians who are committed to serving this community for generations," added Said Ibrahim, MD, MPH, MBA, Anthony F. and Gertrude M. DePalma Dean of the Sidney Kimmel Medical College, in a statement announcing the new medical campus in Allentown.
The new campus marks the latest milestone in Thomas Jefferson University's academic expansion and growth. In June 2026, the Sidney Kimmel Medical College was selected by Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer to establish the first four-year medical school in Delaware.
Wednesday, July 15, 2026
Tuesday, July 14, 2026
Provident Data Centers developer buys Harrisburg-area golf course
By Rachel Whaley with CoStar AI CoStar Research
Provident Data Centers closed on its purchase of the 228.4-acre Dauphin Highlands Golf Course in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, from Dauphin County General Authority for $45.6 million, or approximately $199,616 per acre.
The golf course will close permanently on October 12, 2026, with the site to be redeveloped as a new data center.
The property at 650 S. Harrisburg St. spans land in both Swatara Township and Steelton in central Pennsylvania. The offer from the data center division of Dallas-based Provident Realty was selected from six proposals submitted through a request for proposals process. The purchase price represents approximately 10 times the recorded land value of the property, CoStar confirmed.
Dauphin County General Authority has owned the golf course since 1993. According to the Authority, the golf course has consistently operated at a deficit and was sold as a nonperforming asset. The Authority is expected to pay off the golf course's $13 million debt from the sale proceeds.
Earlier this year, Provident expanded its land holdings in Swatara Township, acquiring additional tracts totaling more than 150 acres on the east side of Route 283, according to county deed records.
Provident Data Centers is led by Founder and CEO Leon Backes and President Jay Hawes. Provident entered the data center industry in 1999 by transforming the former Dallas Northtown Mall into a 140,000-square-foot data center leased to AT&T. The data center developer also has a site in Pennsylvania Furnace, Pennsylvania, where it is planning to build a data center.
Monday, July 13, 2026
Meiya Warehousing takes 142,000 SF at DD1 Development's Pemberton, NJ Facility
By Samuel Murch CoStar Research
Meiya Warehousing, a New Jersey-based, family-owned logistics and warehousing provider, signed a new lease for 142,000 square feet of industrial space at 200 S. Pemberton Road in Pemberton, New Jersey.
The 462,345-square-foot distribution facility was built in 2022 and is owned by an entity affiliated with DD1 Development, a privately held, full-cycle real estate developer with industrial, commercial, and residential projects. The location provides direct access to Interstates 295 and 95, the NJ Turnpike, and Route 38.
Based in Edison, New Jersey, Meiya Logistics is an asset-based logistics provider offering drayage, warehousing, e-commerce fulfillment, Amazon FBA transloading, cross-docking, trucking, and last-mile delivery from several U.S. hubs.
Friday, July 10, 2026
Thursday, July 9, 2026
US office leasing holds steady at midyear
By Phil Mobley CoStar Analytics
Office tenants signed new leases for an estimated 115 million square feet during the second quarter of 2026, roughly in line with revised first-quarter numbers but still slightly below the quarterly average from 2015 to 2019.
Since the middle of 2025, office leasing volume has climbed to within roughly 9% of the pre-pandemic norm for a 12-month period. Market vibrancy has made more than a full recovery, with the number of office lease transactions near the all-time high. However, the amount of space leased in a typical deal has settled about 15% below its historical norm, a level that has held steady for two years.
These findings are based on collected and estimated data from office leases executed through the end of the second quarter. As with previously reported leasing data, only new lease commitments are considered. Renewals, which tend to have little impact on overall occupancy, are excluded from this analysis.
The results suggest a market that is demonstrating a sustained recovery but is also bending to constraints imposed by supply and demand. Hiring has been slow and is expected to remain so, especially in traditional knowledge-oriented industries.
Despite this, organizations in some sectors have been actively committing to new space. Among them are financial service institutions, many of which have firmer expectations for frequent office attendance.
Alongside these big banks are a growing number of venture-backed technology companies, including those focused on artificial intelligence, that are seeking out space in anticipation of hiring. Some of these AI firms have joined the group of relatively small professional services firms in a trend of taking small spaces in highly desirable locations.
The distribution of occupiers signing new leases is skewed toward these smaller tenants, resulting in a smaller average deal size. Part of this, however, is because relocation options for the largest office occupiers are vanishing. With new construction activity constrained at a historically low level, few contiguous blocks of premium space remain available in major markets. This, in turn, is keeping overall leasing volume below its customary pre-2020 level despite a sustained surge in activity.
A few markets are bucking the small-lease trend, including such finance-heavy locations as Charlotte, North Carolina, Miami and New York. In San Francisco, office lease sizes have also returned to their historical average as the largest AI-oriented firms have become hungry for space. As a result, office leasing volume is well above its long-run average in all four markets.
The Dallas and Houston office markets have also seen overall leasing volume remain close to their pre-pandemic averages, with activity rising enough to offset the trend toward smaller deals. Elsewhere, though, leasing volume remains depressed, with deal counts struggling to recover in about half of the country’s 20 largest office markets.
Second-quarter new leasing performance, while roughly on par with a strong first quarter, could indicate a de facto ceiling on volume for the current cycle. High churn could help maintain office leasing volume near its current level. Smaller leases often have shorter terms, which can catalyze faster, higher deal flow that could keep volume steady as tenants sort themselves into and out of existing spaces.
On the other hand, the lack of relocation options is expected to force many large occupiers to renew in place, clogging up the market that would typically emerge to backfill their current spaces. This, coupled with near-stagnant growth in knowledge-industry jobs, suggests that office leasing volume is likely to decelerate in the quarters ahead.
Wednesday, July 8, 2026
Tuesday, July 7, 2026
Philadelphia’s big-box industrial leasing activity climbs to a five-year high
By Brenda Nguyen CoStar Analytics
Big-box industrial leasing appears to be gaining momentum across the Philadelphia market, with the number of lease deals climbing steadily from the cyclical low seen in 2023.
The rebound in leasing signals an inflection point, as well-capitalized occupiers regain confidence in their business operations following a stretch of higher interest rates, recessionary fears and broader economic uncertainty that froze expansion plans.
After bottoming out at just two new leases above 500,000 square feet in 2023, Philadelphia recorded five such deals in 2024 and accelerated to eight in 2025. The pace has carried into 2026, with nine such leases signed over the trailing 12 months, matching the prior peak in 2021.
Other major bulk-industrial deals include Exol's lease of the South Penn Logistics Center, a 973,200-square-foot, newly built distribution facility in Bucks County, while Creative Innovation's 704,000-square-foot deal in Palmyra and SLM Warehousing's full-building, 610,183-square-foot lease in Mansfield further highlight continued leasing momentum across Southern New Jersey's logistics corridor.
These leases have considerably tightened conditions at the top end of the market, compressing big-box vacancy from a peak of 14.8% in mid-2025 to 11.2% in mid-2026. Small-bay industrial space, by contrast, has trended in the opposite direction, with a gradual increase in vacancy.
The divergence between big-box and small-bay performance suggests a bifurcated market.
Larger, well-capitalized occupiers of industrial space have the balance sheets to expand opportunistically, while smaller operators—working with thinner margins and less financial cushion—are struggling to absorb softer consumer spending, higher operating costs and elevated borrowing expenses. The result is a market moving at two distinct speeds—accelerating at the top end while smaller operators tread more cautiously.
Monday, July 6, 2026
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