The Department of Public Property manages the physical infrastructure that supports City government operations. to this end, the Department is responsible for the acquisition, disposition, lease, design, construction, renovation, and maintenance of City properties and the management of the City's communication systems. In addition, the Department administers the City's four cable television franchises and coordinates special events citywide.

The Department of Public Property was established under the terms of the City Charter of 1951 to provide for the maintenance and acquisition of City property. It has the primary responsibility for the acquisition, care and maintenance of the city government's physical plant. In addition, the Department was charged with supervising the city's motor pool and coordinating transit matters with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). It assumed these functions primarily from the then-abolished Bureaus of City Property and Mechanical Equipment of the Department of Public Works, the Electrical Bureau of the Department of Public Safety, and the Departments of City Transit and City Architecture. The Gas Commission and the Art Jury (under the title of the Art Commission) at the same time were made commissions within the new Department; the Gas Commission, however, was removed from the Department in 1962. The Philadelphia Historical Commission, created by an ordinance of December 7, 1955, to promote the preservation of the City's private and public historic buildings, was similarly designated a departmental commission.

The responsibility for coordination with SEPTA was transferred to the Mayor's Office of Transportation during the Goode Administration: the maintenance of the city's motor pool was given to the Office of Fleet Management under the Mayor's Executive Order 5-93 of 6 April 1993.