Land Use

Introduction

Each year, beginning in 2020, the Chester County Planning Commission has completed a report of non-residential construction in the county. The report includes data on the number of projects and new square feet for agricultural, commercial, industrial, and institutional projects. Both additions to existing buildings and new construction are included in the report.

When evaluating non-residential data, the Chester County Planning Commission acknowledges that non-residential data can vary between years due to a small data set, and large projects can cause significant changes. Furthermore, meaningful overarching trends will not become clear until additional years are recorded. This report provides an overview of current conditions, and subsequent reports will better portray trends, strengths, and challenges for non-residential development in the county.

New non-residential construction saw highs in 2017 and 2018, peaking at 1,466,203 new square feet in 2018. Construction from 2019 through 2024 has ranged from lows of 915,348 in 2023 to highs of 1,139,699 in 2021. The number of projects saw a high of 83 projects in 2019, with a low of 34 projects in 2024. Commercial and institutional projects had the highest total number of both square feet and projects from 2016-2024.

In 2024, East Whiteland, West Fallowfield, and West Goshen had the greatest total new non-residential square feet, West Goshen, East Marlborough, and West Chester had the greatest commercial, Uwchlan, West Whiteland, and West Brandywine had the most new industrial square feet, and East Whiteland Township, East Pikeland, and West Sadsbury had the highest new institutional construction. West Fallowfield was the only municipality to have agricultural building development.

West Goshen, West Whiteland, East Whiteland Townships had the highest cumulative number of non-residential projects built from 2016-2024, at 37, 33, and 24 projects respectively. East Whiteland, West Goshen, Tredyffrin, and West Whiteland Townships had the highest cumulative amount of non-residential construction from 2016-2024.