Another Record Year for Demolitions in 2019

"Philadelphia real estate developers sought to tear down more buildings in 2019 than any other year on recent record," reports Ryan Briggs.

"With two weeks left in the year, records from the Department of Licenses & Inspections showed 543 demolition permits had been issued to private developers over the past year. That’s up from 514 in 2018 and more than any year since 2007, which is as far back as L&I has digitized its permit records."

Additional demolition permit requests by the city bring that total annual 941—more than the previous record-setting total set in 2018. CBRE real estate analyst Joseph Gibson is quoted in the article tying the large number of demolitions to demand for new residential and commercial space.

Buildings weren't the only things vanishing from Philadelphia this year. Earlier in December, news coverage also focused on the number of trees removed in the city in 2019.