Even though we’ve been covering development in Philadelphia for well over a decade, we must confess that sometimes, occasionally, every so often, we get something wrong. There are but a small handful of examples, but here’s one, just for fun. Back in 2018, we brought you to the 2100 block of Germantown Ave., pointing out a church in a building that was once the Diamond Theatre. At the time, we said the following: “This location is pretty far north and pretty far west, so we don’t believe we’ll be covering any construction in the immediate area in the near future.”
It just goes to show, sometimes we truly have no idea what we’re talking about. There have been several projects in this vicinity over the last several years, with the largest rising just a few doors to the south at 2105 Germantown Ave. and including 29 units. So… perhaps this area is indeed viable for development and we’ll see even more in the years to come.
Case in point: 2108 N 6th St., with an address on 6th Street but literally across the street from the two properties mentioned above, has been home to an auto repair garage since sometime in the first half of the 20th century. But it’s been vacant for the last few years and developers are now looking to demolish the old garage and build apartments. Philadelphia just doesn’t need all the auto garages it once had, and this project is fairly consistent with other projects we’ve seen in neighborhoods ranging from South Philly to Cobbs Creek to Mt. Airy.
The property is about 12K sqft in size and runs from 6th Street to N. Marshall Street. Given the size of the property, the developers are aiming for something with some height and density, proposing a six-story building with 60 units. Alas, the parcel is zoned for neighborhood mixed-use commercial, limiting the height to 38′ and the density to 25 units with no zoning bonuses and 45′ and around 40 units with bonuses. This being the case, they will need a variance from the ZBA if they are to proceed with this development.
This project has been making its way through the approvals process for close to two years (!), going to Civic Design Review in late 2023. Over the course of the back and forth with the community and the City, the project has changed somewhat, with the reduction of density from 80 down to 60, the inclusion of several 2-bedrom units, the addition of balconies, and the creation of several setbacks. Despite the fact that the property’s zoning doesn’t require off-street parking, the project includes 25 spots, occupying much of the ground level.
Despite the project’s evolution, it’s still facting opposition from the designated RCO (APM) and the local councilmember. In our experience, this means that the ZBA is not so likely to grant the requested variances when they resume consideration of this project on March 12th, but it’s not out of the question. To us, an apartment building here is a no brainer and would be a major improvement for the site over the alternative, but unfortunately that’s not always sufficient when it comes to securing approval for new infill projects in Philadelphia.
If the proposal is denied, all bets are off. We could see nothing here for years. The developers could try again with a five-story building with less density, which would still need a variance. Another move would be a by-right approach, with a four-story building with bonuses, with about 40 units and no parking whatsoever. We couldn’t tell you whether the community would prefer such a project, but we can say that it would be very difficult to prevent, given the by-right approach.
Assuming something eventually moves forward here, it begs the question of when we will see development immediately next door. You can see in the aerial map, there’s about 10K sqft of vacant land just to the south. The parcel immediately south of the development site is owned by the City of Philadelphia, and the other parcels that compose the vacant lawn between the garage and Diamond Street are a mix of public and private ownership. In a perfect world, the City would put out an RFP, seeking to consolidate the properties under the ownership of one party, and require a mixed-income development. Sadly, our City has been hysterically inept at any kind of centralized public-private development and we don’t foresee anything changing on that front. More likely than not, we’ll see a smattering of market rate projects on the privately owned lots, while the City owned lots continue to sit vacant for the foreseeable future.