Germantown Town Hall could be getting a new residential neighbor

The Germantown Town Hall could soon be getting a new neighbor, courtesy of Iron Stone Real Estate Partners.

The Philadelphia-based developer proposes a five-story, 75-unit apartment building in the lot just north of the historic building, at 5932-42 Germantown Ave.

The project will also include two retail spaces and 38 parking spaces on the ground floor, as well as a shared residential roof deck. The architect for the project is Philadelphia-based Canno Design.

No zoning permissions are required. But the project is large enough that it has triggered oversight by the Civic Design Review committee, which provides advice to developers on matters of architecture and the built environment. It will be considered at the committee’s Sept. 3 meeting.

Iron Stone did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Before Iron Stone goes before the Civic Design Review committee, the developer has to meet with the local neighborhood group, in this case West Central Germantown Neighbors. That meeting will be held Aug. 21 on Zoom.

Because the community group hasn’t held a public meeting with the developer yet, it does not have an official stance on the project yet.

But West Central Germantown Neighbors leadership has met with Iron Stone and expressed some concerns about the density, the lack of wraparound brick siding, rear units overlooking neighbors’ yards and infringing on privacy, and the potential for a shared drive aisle with the Philadelphia Police Department’s 14th District impeding officer response to emergency calls.

“We don’t have a lot of clout here, but they are interested in making us happy,” said Julie Stapleton Carroll of West Central Germantown neighbors. In addition to the other concerns, “We are interested in affordable housing because we feel there is little affordability in these new developments. They agreed to consider it if we support their proposals.”

Carroll says Iron Stone has also agreed to consider adding more brick to the facade and eliminating a few of the rear units to address privacy concerns, if the neighborhood group offers support at the committee meeting.

Carroll says that she can’t guarantee that outcome at the meeting, where the proposal will be put to a vote, but that she’s been pleasantly surprised — if a little mystified — by the developer’s appeals for community support when they don’t have to go to the zoning board.

She also notes that the community is concerned about the future of Germantown Town Hall, which West Powelton Development proposed to redevelop years ago with the support of City Councilmember Cindy Bass. No discernible progress has been made on the vacant, city-owned building.