Philadelphia to roll out PRIME to speed up permitting for major infrastructure projects

The City of Philadelphia announced a new initiative, hoping to attract big businesses by updating its development processes. 

Mayor Cherelle Parker announced PHL Project Review and Infrastructure Made Easy (PRIME) on Wednesday at the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia’s annual Mayoral Luncheon. 

Through an executive order, agencies will team up to review applications for city developments, then provide guidance on city regulatory requirements, help developers get licenses and permits, and connect them to other relevant city agencies. 

“[Business leaders] told us that it was important to make sure that when someone was trying to do business in the city, we needed to have the bureaucracy to get out the way,” Parker said during her speech at the luncheon. 

The program aims to make permitting and regulatory compliance easier to navigate, to draw in more projects that could create jobs for Philadelphians and bring in tax revenue for the city. Specifics on how the team will make development processes faster will be determined on a case-by-case basis, Leah Uko, press secretary for the mayor’s office, told Technical.ly.

This program will target projects across a range of sectors, similar to ones already happening in the city, such as Comcast’s plans to build up the sports stadium complex in South Philly and the revitalization of Market East. 

“[Projects] that will grow jobs and contribute to an inclusive economy,” Uko said. 

More details about the program will come out in the coming weeks and updated information will be on the city’s website, she said.

What PHL PRIME wants to see in your application 

The team in charge of reviewing applications for the program and managing accepted projects will include leaders from the Office of Policy, Planning and Delivery, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Planning and Development, and the managing director’s office. 

In the next 60 days, the city will develop an application and create the criteria for accepting projects into the program, according to PHL PRIME’s executive order. The team will look at projected job creation, potential tax revenue and total investment.

The state government created a similar program called the Pennsylvania Permit Fast Track program in 2024 to help big infrastructure projects access permits faster, including Philadelphia’s 1,300-acre Bellweather District project.

“We are going to work at the speed of business,” Parker said, “to increase the amount of business being done here in the city of Philadelphia.”