University City Associates, Inc. (University of Pennsylvania)

In November 1963, a group of people termed "friends" of the University of Pennsylvania, that included a few senior administrators of the University of Pennsylvania, formed University City Associates, Incorporated (UCA). The corporation was created as a for-profit stock company whose mission was primarily to locate and develop interim student housing around the University campus. In March of 1964 the University entered into an agreement with the UCA in which it would be entitled to the right of first refusal in purchasing any stocks which went up for sale.

From the 1960s to the early 1980s, UCA was primarily involved in managing supplemental residential housing for students and faculty as well as managing some commercial properties in University City and West Philadelphia. Throughout most of this period the daily operations of the UCA were conducted by the real estate firm of Hertzfeld Associates, who also managed much of the commercial and residential space owned by the University.

With the reorganization the management of University property in in 1985 by creation of the Department of Real Estate, later called the Division of Institutional Real Estate, the University took direct control over the UCA. In 2000 the corporation was converted from a for-profit to a not-for-profit tax-exempt corporation.