The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania own over $3.3 billion worth of real estate in University City — three times as much as any other educational institution in the area — according to an analysis of city property records by The Daily Pennsylvanian. 

Penn’s real estate holdings in Philadelphia include the buildings on campus, University of Pennsylvania Health System facilities, several properties around the city, and many off-campus houses traditionally leased by students. Using the City of Philadelphia’s property records website, the DP analyzed over 1,600 properties located within the boundaries of 29th and 42nd streets and between Powelton and Grays Ferry avenues — the area depicted in Penn’s online Large Campus Map. 

According to the Consolidated Statements of Financial Position detailed in Penn’s fiscal year 2024 financial report, the net book value of Penn’s facilities — excluding properties within the Health System — is closer to $3.9 billion. In an interview with the DP, Penn Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli said that the discrepancy between Penn’s records and the city’s can be attributed to a delay in the city updating its records — illustrated by the fact that Gutmann College House, which opened in the fall of 2021, does not appear on the city’s website. 

On the city’s website, the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania are listed as the owner on the deed of around 185 properties on Penn’s campus map, making Penn the largest real estate holder in the University City area. By comparison, Drexel University is listed as the owner of just 12 properties worth just under $1 billion total, and the University of the Sciences — now owned and recently put up for sale by Saint Joseph’s University — also owns 12 properties worth close to $200 million. The University City Science Center, which was established in 1963 with significant help from the West Philadelphia Corporation — of which Penn is a member — owns six properties.

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Of the 20 properties with the highest estimated value within Penn’s campus map — which include several Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia facilities, Domus Apartments, Brandywine Realty Trust’s Philadelphia campus, and the area containing the Palestra and Franklin Field — the University Trustees own 11. Of the remaining nine, Penn has been involved in developing or overseeing four of the institutions — three being CHOP facilities and one being the Domus apartment building.

Carnaroli told the DP that Penn’s development strategy has evolved over the years from “Penn as a developer” to “Penn as landowners.” The difference, he said, lies in the University’s change in approach from using its capital to construct buildings on the land to renting the land to a third-party owner and having them invest in development.

“Penn’s real estate strategy is to attract outside investment from the private development market. Penn leased the land to The Hanover Company, a Houston-based developer, for 65 years,” a Facilities and Real Estate Services webpage describing Penn’s involvement with Domus reads.

According to Carnaroli, Penn’s first major independent developments included The Inn at Penn and the Penn Bookstore, as well as developing the intersection at 40th and Walnut streets that now houses Acme Markets, Cinemark University City, and Panera Bread. 

Although Penn does not own CHOP, the hospital is part of the Health System and closely affiliated with Penn Medicine. CHOP’s real estate holdings encompass six individual properties totaling just over $600 million. Other sites affiliated with Penn Med include Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, which is centralized in several different buildings worth a total of $67.4 million; Pennsylvania Hospital, worth $32.4 million; and the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Nursing Home, properties that together are worth $31.2 million. 

While the VA Hospital is not part of Penn Med, the institution has a formal partnership with the Health System. 

The nearby Penn Med facilities owned by the University Trustees — which include the main Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, HUP offices, the Perelman Center of Advanced Medicine, and two office buildings on Civic Center Boulevard — are worth about $460.3 million. Additional properties located off campus — one in Rittenhouse Square and another suite at 8th and Walnut streets — are worth nearly $27.6 million, bringing the total value of local Penn Medicine real estate to nearly $488 million.

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The highest-valued property within Penn’s campus map is Brandywine Realty Trust’s Philadelphia campus, which is worth $370,556,400, according to the city’s property records website.

Penn’s off-campus property holdings include some University-affiliated facilities or University-sponsored housing. For example, the building occupied by Penn’s Greenfield Intercultural Center is owned by the University and located just off campus. Penn also owns several buildings along Walnut and Spruce streets that house several of Penn’s greek life organizations. However, approximately 65% of the University Trustees’ individual properties are off campus and unaffiliated with University facilities.

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Penn’s off-campus presence in University City has often garnered attention and criticism, including its participation in efforts to develop the area formerly known as Philadelphia’s Black Bottom. As the University and its facilities — both medical and academic — continue to expand, the effects of this development have changed the architectural landscape of the area and affected how the area is viewed. 

“The university has not always been a good neighbor or player [in West Philadelphia], especially for the surrounding lower income communities that have been continually displaced over the decades,” City and Regional Planning professor Jamaal Green wrote in a statement to the DP. “We are [a] major anchor institution but still act as if we are not a fundamental force in the development of this area of the city.” 

1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump’s administration’s recent “assault on higher education” could also impact Penn's approach to real estate, according to Carnaroli. He said the University’s evaluation of development opportunities may change to prioritize “replacements” for buildings requiring reinvestment of resources as opposed to growing campus itself.

“Non-profit educational institutions like Penn are both asset and people intensive,” Carnaroli wrote in a follow-up email. “To carry out our mission, we require facilities to carry out our broad education, research and service missions, in addition to the people who perform those services.”

The University Trustees also own properties located further off campus, but their mailing addresses are listed those of Campus Apartments and University City Associates — two off-campus housing companies that Penn has had longstanding relationships with. 

Campus Apartments was founded in 1958 by Alan Horwitz to help create a higher standard of off-campus living for Penn students. Horwitz still serves as chair of Campus Apartments, and company CEO David Adelman sits on the Penn Medicine Board of Trustees. 

The company launched a partnership with Penn in 2003 and has worked with the University on several campus projects since then; it also owns many properties around Penn’s campus. UCA, which is managed by Campus Apartments but completely owned by Penn, also owns many off-campus properties. 

Campus Apartments and UCA also manage Penn’s greek housing — including key pickup and maintenance requests — even while many of the chapter houses are owned by the University. 

“We recognize that we don’t provide housing for all undergraduates, so we want them to have … safe options off campus,” Carnaroli said. 

Another prominent local real estate agency, University City Housing, is owned and operated by 1964 College graduate and former University Commonwealth Trustee Michael Karp. According to the DP’s recent analysis, Karp or UCH are explicitly listed as the owners of just over $41 million worth of real estate near campus on Philadelphia’s property records website — but lease out many others that they do not explicitly own.