Another hot property type in greater Philly: self-storage, which is increasingly on investors' radar. It’s a matter of long-term demand, which is driven by population density, job growth and population growth, all of which are trending positive, CBRE self storage group SVP Michael Howard tells us. Recently Michael, along with Steve Marzullo and Justin Marlowe of CBRE’s investment properties Philadelphia commercial group, repped the seller of the 92k SF Willow Grove Self Storage in Willow Grove.

As the fifth-largest city in the US and with an economy that includes 590 internationally HQ'd companies, Philadelphia is viewed as a core market by institutional self-storage investors who continue to aggressively pursue opportunities in the market, Michael explains. He adds that there was a deep pool of investors interested in Willow Grove Self Storage. Ultimately it sold to Metro Storage, which has 11 other self-storage properties in metro Philly.