Proposed five-story apartment building in Germantown would have 75 units

A new apartment building may pop up in the next few years near a group of Germantown landmarks, including the long-vacant Germantown Town Hall and the former Germantown High School.

The proposed 96,645 square-foot, five-story building would be located at 5932-42 Germantown Avenue. It would offer 75 units, two commercial/retail spaces, 38 parking spots on the ground floor and a shared residential roof deck. The project is being developed by Iron Stone Real Estate Partners, with Canno Design as architect.

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"We feel like this is a really good site on a big central boulevard on Germantown Avenue that people will be able to have access to both the amenities of Germantown and access to other parts of the city very quickly on public transportation routes and other ways of getting around the city," Andrew Eisenstein, a partner at Iron Stone, told WHYY.

 Eisenstein also said that construction is expected to begin in the spring and take two years to complete. No zoning permissions are needed to move forward with the project. Due to the size of the proposed complex, though, it will be addressed at the Sept. 3 meeting of the city's Civic Design Review committee — which can provide feedback and advice in regards to the proposal.

The complex would be build on a lot that holds a one-story former daycare center, which would need to be demolished to make way for the new building. Once completed, the apartment building would be located next to Germantown Town Hall and across the street from the former home of Germantown High School.

Germantown Town Hall, located at 5928 Germantown Ave., was built in 1923 and has sat vacant since 1995 when it was closed due to unsafe conditions and outdated amenities. The property has a potential developer, with West Powelton Development president Anthony Fullard saying last year that he hopes to transform it into a mixed-use property with apartments, event space and office space. But discernible progress has not yet been made on the long-vacant building.

Germantown High School, located at 5901 Germantown Ave., closed in 2013 after nearly a century, and was added to Philly's Register of Historic Places in 2020. The former school is being renovated into an apartment complex called Living at Historical Germantown, which offers one- and two-bedroom apartments and "luxury amenities" like on-site security, parking, resident club rooms, a basketball court and fitness center. That building will offer approximately 240 units, with the first 45 available now to lease, WHYY reported.