Philadelphia's building boom marches on this year.

Why it matters: Rising towers are changing the city's skyline and fueling investments into more neighborhoods.

Zoom in: While most aren't slated to open this year, some major development projects are making strides in 2025.

• Others are up in the air.

Here's what we're watching:

💼 Chubb's new HQ

🔎 Details: Chubb's 18-story office building is the latest high-rise to join Philly's skyline (its signage was recently placed atop the tower).

• Spanning 438,000 square feet, it will be the insurance giant's new headquarters.
• Chubb expects more than 3,000 employees will work in the Center City HQ once it's completed in 2026 — including more than 1,200 new jobs it's bringing to the city.

💰 Price: $430 million

📍 Location: 2000 Arch St.

🔁 Office-to-apartment transformation

🔎 Details: 17 Market West is an 18-story former office tower in Center City that's being converted into apartments and ground-floor retail along busy Market Street.

• The 299-unit project from Alterra Property Group, slated to open later this year, will be the city's largest conversion post-pandemic.
• Amenities include a rooftop saltwater pool and cabanas, pickleball courts, a golf simulator, cold plunge pools and a yoga studio.

💰 Cost: A spokesperson for Alterra Property Group declined to say.

📍 Location: 1701 Market St.

💸 Needle tower in Rittenhouse

🔎 Details: Pearl Properties' Harper Square will add around 50 stories and up to 215 residential units in ritzy Rittenhouse. Demolition began last year but there's no ETA on a groundbreaking yet.

• The slim tower will complement the developer's nearby 24-story Harper building, which includes apartments, Goldie and Federal Donuts.
• The project is slated to be completed in 2027.

💰 Cost: Unknown. A spokesperson for Pearl Properties didn't return Axios' request for comment.

📍 Location: 113–19 S. 19th St.

📦 South Philly revival

🔎 Details: Counted among Philly's largest developments, the Bellwether District is eyeing the completion of its first industrial-sized warehouse in the coming weeks and another slated for the end of the year.

• The warehouses are a small part of Hilco Redevelopment Partners' vision to transform 1,300 acres of a former oil refinery site into an industrial and life-sciences hub.

💰 Cost: $4 billion over 10–15 years

📍 Location: South and Southwest Philly

🔑 Navy Yard apartments

🔎 Details: The two-building apartment complex is bringing 614 units and new retail space to the Navy Yard, with completion set for September.

• Amenities include game rooms, a theater, work pods, an outdoor pool, a music studio, bike lounge and golf simulator.
• These buildings are part of a $6.2 billion plan to transform part of the former military base into a new neighborhood filled with housing, restaurants, a hotel and offices.

💰 Cost: $285 million

📍 Location: 1200 Normandy Place and 1225 Constitution Ave.

See what big projects are pending in the city

Everything must go from Macy's flagship store in Center City — including the mannequins.

Why it matters: Shoppers can score deep discounts — and listen to Wanamaker Grand Court Organ performances — ahead of the department store's permanent closure in the coming weeks.

Between the lines: The final date for the closure remains uncertain.

• But a company spokesperson told Axios in early January that sales would run through March or April.

Mike's thought bubble: I stopped by the store this week and was a little freaked out by the dozens of mannequins for sale on the first floor (starting around $100 for a full-sized model).

🎥 Fun fact: The 1987 flick "Mannequin" had a filming location in Wanamaker's Department Store.

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🚨 Health officials confirmed a measles case in an unvaccinated child in Montgomery County on Sunday, the first in the state this year. This comes after the U.S. recorded its first measles death in a decade last week in Texas. (NBC10)

🔌 The Sixers pulled the plug on Joel Embiid's season last Friday due to lingering issues with his injured left knee. The team's disappointing season marches on tonight against the Trail Blazers at home at 7pm. (ESPN)

🏠 The new owner of Anderson Hall on South Broad Street, a former UArt's building, has proposed converting it into 84 apartment units and commercial space. (Philadelphia Business Journal 🔒)

Couples are saying "I do" to premarital therapy.

Why it matters: As the stigma of talk therapy disappears, couples therapy has gone from a marriage-saving Hail Mary, to a wedding prerequisite in Pennsylvania.

Meanwhile, divorce rates have dropped.

• The divorce rate in the Keystone State was 5.9 per 1,000 women ages 15 and older in 2022, down from 7.2 in 2012.
• The national rate declined from just over 10 to is 7.1 in that period.

By the numbers: 24% of just-married or engaged couples in the Mid-Atlantic — which includes Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey — did premarital counseling or couples therapy, according to The Knot 2025 Real Weddings Study shared with Axios.

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