Construction of the $600 million Live! Casino and Hotel Philadelphia project in South Philadelphia is set to begin in 2018.
Cordish Cos. is the developer.
The development will include 2,000 slot machines, 125 gaming tables, more than 200 hotel rooms and a 2,600-square-foot parking garage. The casino-hotel property will be located near Philadelphia's major sports stadiums
The project is expected to open in 2020.
Philadelphia is currently in a building boom. According to JLL’s Skyline report, there is about 2.1 million square feet of new construction underway in Philadelphia that’s set to change its skyline.
The overall vacancy rate for the Philadelphia CBD increased to 10.3 percent in the first quarter of 2017, up 50 BPS from the first quarter of 2016, according to Cushman & Wakefield. Overall absorption was positive to begin 2017 with 61,377 square feet. Overall average rental rates for all classes increased by 5.2 percent year-over-year to $29.81 per-square-foot. Overall class A asking rates experienced the largest growth, increasing by 7.6 percent to a current value of $31.65 per square foot.
With large and inbound tenants showing less price sensitivity than longtime occupiers, it is likely that new construction and buildings with robust capital improvement plans will continue to outperform status quo options.
Cordish Cos. is also developing the $250 million Texas Live! entertainment complex, being built between the future site of the Rangers' new ballpark and AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, which broke ground earlier this month. Texas Live! is scheduled to open in 2018. The initial phase includes =convention and meeting space, a 350-room hotel, 200,000 square feet of dining and entertainment venues and an outdoor pavilion
And the developer recently completed the exterior phase of construction on the Live! Hotel in Hanover, Md. The 350,000-square-foot hotel, located adjacent to Live! Casino, consists of a 17-story hotel tower, 310 guestrooms, an event center, meeting spaces, a day spa/salon, and David’s Café, a 24/7 dining establishment.
The property is the first hotel in the country to carry the Live! brand. It is scheduled to be completed early 2018.
