University of the Sciences; University Place

The Developers of 2.0 University Place has landed a tenant big enough to kick off a $30 million office building at 30 N. 41st Street in West Philadelphia.  The project has been put on the back-burner for over three years, and finally is getting some juice to finish off the expanding campus of the University of the Sciences.

University Place Associates will break ground in December on a five-story, 97,000-square-foot building and serve as something seldom seen in the city, even on a small scale, new office construction.  Because the site is designated as a Keystone Opportunity Zone, the University can take advantage of breaks on state and local taxes after moving into the space.  However the buildings main tenant, a General Services Administration agency called Citizenship and Immigration Services, is tax exempt because of its government status.  Other tenants will get those tax benefits until 2018.