The Westview in Mt. Airy offers high end-housing options in a mixed-use development.

by Kevin Dicciani

The Westview, an estimated $5 million mixed-use redevelopment project, consisting of 28 luxury apartments and two street-level retail storefronts, opened earlier this month in Mt. Airy.

The four-story building, located at the corner of Germantown Avenue and Westview Street, the former site of Tourison’s Hall, was named the “Project of the Year” by Mt. Airy USA. Each apartment includes a private balcony, quartz countertops, full appliances, central air and in-unit laundry. Off-street parking for sixteen vehicles as well as dedicated bicycle parking is available behind the building and underneath the apartments.

“It’s really a unique project because I don’t think there has been a development of this type built in the entire Northwest, and certainly not in Mt. Airy,” said Robert Elfant, president of Martin Elfant Inc. Real Estate, one of the partners behind The Westview.

The project is the result of a partnership between Elfant and Jared Pontz, vice president of Martin Elfant Inc. Real Estate, Max Berger, president of MBA Equities, and HOW Properties, of Conshohocken.

Elfant said that he and his partners wanted to fill the gap between Mt. Airy’s most active commercial districts, located at the 6300 and 7100 blocks of Germantown Avenue.

“There’s a lot of very interesting and unique uses between the 7100 block and 6300 block, and our vision was to bridge the gap and more or less connect those areas so that there would be more continuity,” Elfant said.

With the addition of The Westview to an area “already long and well established,” Elfant said there is an opportunity to create a more vibrant commercial district, not only because of the two new stores, but also because of the customers that emanate from the building itself.

“If you bring 28 quality residents into a building, you’ve got more eyes and ears on the Avenue and more shoppers and customers,” Elfant said. “Right across the street you have a post office, you have a little diner, a financial institution, there’s a bakery nearby, a cake store, a violin store, all sorts of unique places. I think if you get more density in terms of occupancy, both in the apartments and in the stores, all you can do is create more life for the commercial district, and that’s what we’re after.”

Prices and sizes of the apartments vary, Elfant said. One-bedroom apartments range from $1,000 to $1,300; a one-bedroom-den costs between $1,300 and $1,400; two bedrooms between $1,400 and $1,500; and a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment costs $1,555.

So far the apartments, which are managed by Martin Elfant Inc. (soon to be renamed Elfant Pontz Properties), are 60 percent occupied. As for the retail storefronts, Elfant said they are in talks with two commercial businesses, one of which they are in “heavy negotiations” with. He said they hope to have the storefronts occupied within 90-120 days; however, they want to make sure that whatever they choose is something that “people in the neighborhood can feel good about.”

“We’re not just going to put anybody in there,” Elfant said. “We’re looking to put something in there that’s going to be good for the building, good for the Avenue and good for the bottom line.”

Elfant, Pontz and Berger purchased the building years ago when it became vacant after the Fresenius Dialysis Center relocated to Moreland Avenue in Chestnut Hill. The building, known as Tourison’s Hall, was built in 1904 by Ashton S. Tourison. Though it was not on the Philadelphia Historical Commission's register of historic places, it was designated by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission as contributing to the Colonial Germantown Historic District.

Elfant said that he and his partners purchased the building with the idea of renovating it for commercial users. For years they sat on the property and entertained a variety of proposals concerning its use, he said. Ultimately, due to its state of disrepair, the trio began exploring other options.

“The building was antiquated and deteriorated,” Elfant said. “Our first initiative was to save the old building and not tear it down, and we really tried for a couple of years to come up with a plan to do just that, but nothing ever materialized that really worked well.”

Before the building was razed last year and construction began, Elfant and his partners met with the Mt. Airy community multiple times. Even though almost a majority of the project could have been done by-right, Elfant said it was important to inform the neighborhood of their plans and receive the proper feedback.

“We really went out of our way to try and be inclusive with the community about our plans, and at the end of the day we had a pretty strong buy-in from both the neighbors and the business district,” Elfant said. “We were conscious and careful about that.”

The project has a personal and emotional connection for Elfant and Pontz, too. Pontz was born in Mt. Airy and Elfant has operated multiple businesses in the neighborhood for nearly 30 years. Because of this, Elfant said he and his partners wanted the project to be of the highest quality.

“I’m not an outsider,” Elfant said. “My roots are in Mt. Airy and my business life has been focused in 19119 for years. I, along with my partners, were pretty concerned about doing something of high quality. I think we accomplished that, and we’re really proud of that fact.”

For more information, visit thewestviewphilly.com.