CENTENNIAL DISTRICT PLAN
Philadelphia, PA
Anchored by three major cultural institutions, the Centennial District is one of the premier entertainment destinations within the City of Philadelphia that attracts more than 1.3 million visitors each year. The Centennial District is home to the Philadelphia Zoo, the Mann Center for the Performing Arts, and the Please Touch Museum, which in 2008 relocated into Memorial Hall, the iconic symbol of the Centennial Exhibition of 1876. In 2008,Urban Partners was retained by the Commerce Department of the City of Philadelphia to help develop the Centennial District Economic Development Strategy that will serve as a guide for new developments and investments that leverage the current and planned investments by District cultural institutions.
Our work involved the completion of the retail market analysis of the area to identify potential retail expansion opportunities (particularly in response to excess retail demand that is being generated by the cultural institutions), assessing opportunities for residential development, and identifying specifi c development nodes and the recommended uses. In addition to producing the plan, Urban Partners compiled an implementation strategy which is being utilized by the City to coordinate the work of various municipal departments which will be in charge of different components of the project.
