--- title: "University City / Schuylkill Yards, Philadelphia — Class A submarket" description: "Life sciences and tech corridor." canonical: https://classa.info/cities/philadelphia/university-city pageType: neighborhood lastUpdated: 2026-04-15T00:00:00.000Z license: "CC BY 4.0 with attribution to Class A Atlas (https://classa.info)." --- > University City / Schuylkill Yards is a trophy-tier Class A submarket of Philadelphia with average asking rent around $50/sqft/yr. ## TL;DR - Life sciences and tech corridor. - Trophy tier — ~$50/sqft/yr. - Active Class A leasing market with deal flow across major broker desks. # University City / Schuylkill Yards, Philadelphia — Class A submarket *Life sciences and tech corridor.* · Tier: trophy · Avg rent: $50/sqft/yr ## TL;DR - Life sciences and tech corridor. - [Trophy tier](/topics/trophy-asset-selection) — ~$50/sqft/yr. - Active [Class A](/glossary/class-a) leasing market with deal flow across major broker desks. ## Overview University City — anchored by Penn, Drexel, and CHOP — is Philadelphia's life sciences and biotech corridor. The Schuylkill Yards development is the principal trophy frontier. ## Tenant profile Life sciences, biotech, healthcare, academic research, tech. ## Typical specification 15–40,000 sqft floor plates available across newer Class A stock; 9'+ slab-to-slab and modern MEP common. ## Transit 30th Street Station (Amtrak, SEPTA Regional), trolley. Multi-modal transit captures the metro's principal professional catchment. ## Amenities Penn campus, Drexel campus, Cira Green park. ## Comparable buildings - **Cira Centre** [](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=Cira%20Centre%2C%202929%20Arch%20Street%2C%20Philadelphia%2C%20PA%2019104%2C%20University%20City%20%2F%20Schuylkill%20Yards%2C%20Philadelphia%2C%20United%20States&query_place_id=ChIJi_BSs0bHxokRJB_g0z34kLw) - **3.0 University Place** [](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=3.0%20University%20Place%2C%204101%20Market%20Street%2C%20Philadelphia%2C%20PA%2019104%2C%20University%20City%20%2F%20Schuylkill%20Yards%2C%20Philadelphia%2C%20United%20States&query_place_id=ChIJSbs92FbGxokRdF_kuXIFjfk) - **FMC Tower** [](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=FMC%20Tower%2C%202929%20Walnut%20Street%2C%20Philadelphia%2C%20PA%2019104%2C%20University%20City%20%2F%20Schuylkill%20Yards%2C%20Philadelphia%2C%20United%20States&query_place_id=ChIJVSvhby3HxokRdduad_2Gryo) ## Where University City / Schuylkill Yards sits in Philadelphia University City / Schuylkill Yards is one of 5 Class A submarkets we cover in Philadelphia, classified as trophy tier with an average asking rent around $50/sqft/yr. Compared with the broader Philadelphia Class A stock, University City / Schuylkill Yards typically attracts Life sciences, biotech, healthcare, academic research, tech and competes most directly with the city's other trophy submarkets on building specification, transit access, and [amenitisation](/glossary/amenitisation). Adjacent submarkets to study alongside University City / Schuylkill Yards: [Center City West](/cities/philadelphia/center-city-west), [Center City East](/cities/philadelphia/center-city-east), [Navy Yard](/cities/philadelphia/navy-yard), [King of Prussia & Conshohocken](/cities/philadelphia/king-of-prussia-conshohocken). The full Philadelphia submarket atlas is at [/cities/philadelphia](/cities/philadelphia). ## Topic deep-dives for University City / Schuylkill Yards For an institutional Class A occupier evaluating University City / Schuylkill Yards, the highest-leverage analyses to commission next are the rent benchmark, the concession-package comparable, and the ESG performance baseline. Class A Atlas covers each as a dedicated topic page for this submarket: - [University City / Schuylkill Yards — ](/cities/philadelphia/university-city/rents-and-availability) - [University City / Schuylkill Yards — ](/cities/philadelphia/university-city/tenant-profile) - [University City / Schuylkill Yards — ](/cities/philadelphia/university-city/transit-and-commute) - [University City / Schuylkill Yards — ](/cities/philadelphia/university-city/amenity-and-lifestyle) - [University City / Schuylkill Yards — ](/cities/philadelphia/university-city/trophy-and-comparables) - [University City / Schuylkill Yards — ](/cities/philadelphia/university-city/fit-out-and-spec) ## Related glossary Terminology specific to Philadelphia Class A leasing and to the trophy tier: [Class A](/glossary/class-a), [Trophy asset](/glossary/trophy-asset), [Effective rent](/glossary/effective-rent), [Concession package](/glossary/concession-package), [TI allowance](/glossary/ti-allowance), [Submarket tier](/glossary/submarket-tier). ## Editorial provenance Reviewed by [**Miriam Hollander**](/about/authors/miriam-hollander) — Lead market analyst. Last updated 2026-04-15. See our [methodology](/about/methodology) and [editorial standards](/about/editorial-standards). ### Primary sources for this page - [CBRE Marketview reports](https://www.cbre.com/insights) — CBRE - [JLL Office Insight](https://www.jll.com/en/trends-and-insights) — JLL - [Cushman & Wakefield Marketbeat](https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/insights) — Cushman & Wakefield - [Savills World Research](https://www.savills.com/research_articles/) — Savills - [Colliers Global Office Outlook](https://www.colliers.com/en/research) — Colliers [Full sources index](/about/sources) · [Submit a correction](/about/corrections) ## Related topics - [**Class A Lease Negotiation**](/topics/class-a-lease-negotiation) — How to negotiate a Class A office lease — the playbook from LOI to signed deal. - [**Hybrid Workplace Strategy**](/topics/hybrid-workplace-strategy) — How to size, structure, and lease a Class A office for a hybrid workforce. - [**ESG / LEED for Tenants**](/topics/esg-leed-tenants) — How tenants evaluate, negotiate, and report on ESG performance in a Class A office lease. - [**Cross-border Expansion**](/topics/cross-border-expansion) — How to run a coordinated Class A office search across multiple geographies. - [**Fit-out Capex**](/topics/fit-out-capex) — How to budget, sequence, and govern Class A office [fit-out](/topics/fit-out-capex)">fit-out capex. - [**Lease vs Flex**](/topics/lease-vs-flex) — When premium flex (coworking, [managed office](/glossary/managed-office)) beats a conventional Class A lease — and vice versa. --- Citation: Source: Class A Atlas (https://classa.info/cities/philadelphia/university-city), updated 2026-04-15T00:00:00.000Z.