While Philadelphia isn’t currently known as a leading manufacturing hub, that could be set to change thanks to the ongoing and upcoming construction throughout the city, writes Sonya Swink for BisNow.

According to a new report from Yardi’s Commercial Cafe, the Philly metro area ranks 16th out of 20 major metros across the nation that are set to benefit from an explosion in U.S. manufacturing.

The same report also indicated that the city is undergoing the fifth-largest expansion of manufacturing space in the nation. 

Philly currently has around 2.6 million square-feet of manufacturing space now under construction. While manufacturing construction accounted for only 0.7 percent of new space over the past five years, the city is likely to see a boost from the need to produce semiconductor chips and other components for technology.

The region is also benefiting from the boom in the life sciences market and a push to move manufacturing closer to home. 

“We’ve definitely seen an influx of users looking throughout the Philadelphia area for manufacturing sites,” said JLL Philadelphia Vice Chairman Larry Maister. “We’ve seen that as a result of macroeconomic conditions and the desire to onshore.”

Read more about the increase of manufacturing space in Philadelphia in comparison to some of its peer cities in BisNow.

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