The city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) voted unanimously on Oct. 29 to grant a special exception for the removal of heritage trees for TierView Development’s 81-unit apartment development in Mt. Airy at 6903-6915 Germantown Ave.

With the zoning hurdle cleared, Jenn Patrino, president of TierView Development, told the Local they hope to break ground on the project in early 2026, with an 18-month construction period.

“There are a lot of the mature trees on the site that are going to be staying, and we’re replanting quite a few new trees. Part of the neighborhood feedback that we received was concern about the greenery going away, so we reengaged our landscape architect to ensure that we were maximizing our plantings,” Patrino said.

During an Oct. 7 Civic Design Review (CDR) meeting, an advisory process which is overseen by the city’s Planning Commission, committee members and residents also had raised concerns about traffic and parking with the development’s design.

At the end of the meeting, the committee emphasized the need for a traffic study to understand the potential impact of the project. They said the developer should take into account the safety concerns raised by near neighbors. Committee members also criticized the lack of changes to the design based on previous community feedback.

“Unfortunately, the wheels were already in motion with the city, and we were on a tight timeline, so I wasn’t able to adjust the plans for the public presentations in response to those concerns,” Patrino said. “But it is very important to me that the neighborhood is aware that I heard their concerns, and I am working very diligently to try and make every actionable adjustment possible.”

Looking to address this, Patrino said, “When the concerns were raised by the neighborhood about the potential for traffic delays, specifically around the carpenter fire station, we did accelerate the traffic study. … The traffic engineer concluded that there was a 0.1-second delay at the intersection of Germantown and Gorgas due to this additional density from our project.”

Addressing the parking, Patrino said that her team is finalizing a lease for parking within 100 feet of the property.

“We’ve secured a minimum of 10 additional spaces that may, in time, be able to be expanded to as many as 25 additional spaces,” she said. “I definitely left those meetings with some notes on how we can improve this project and help it fit within the neighborhood, and we are being responsive to that.”

Prior to the Oct. 7 CDR meeting, the developer had met with local Registered Community Organizations (RCOs) and the community several times, receiving feedback. The Mt. Airy Business Improvement District was the coordinating RCO for the project.

Previously, Janis Risch, the executive director of the Mt. Airy BID, told the Local, “Overall, the project meets the BID’s goals to add residential density and commercial use to the Germantown Avenue commercial corridor.”

She added, “This project has the potential to spur business development between Gorgas Lane and Pelham, similar to the way that the multifamily projects between Westview and Hortter have spurred business development between Phil Ellena and Upsal Streets.”

Project design

TierView’s 72,167-square-foot design would sit on the east side of Germantown Avenue between Gorgas Lane and Sedgwick Street. Along with the 81 units, the building would feature 2,734 square feet of commercial space. On-site, there are 11 parking spaces.

Residents would have access to public transit with SEPTA’s Route 23 bus along Germantown Avenue, and Regional Rail within walking distance to Carpenter Station.

The 81 units consist of 13 studios, 42 one-bedroom, and 26 two-bedroom apartments. The project will include private-entry ground-floor units with patios.

“I’ve had the opportunity to engage pretty significantly with the community … something that the community has expressed a desire for is for a significant amount of two bedrooms and two bedrooms that are of a reasonable size for families,” Patrino said. “Ultimately, our goal is to try to encourage long-term tenancy.”

Nine of the apartments will be deed-restricted affordable units, intended for renters who earn 60% or less of the area median income (AMI).

“The whole project, on average, the rents come out to 79% AMI. Workforce housing typically is 80 to 120% AMI. So we are just even below the workforce housing category,” Patrino said.

For the facade and design of the building itself, the developer had to meet with the city Historical Commission due to its surroundings, including the historically designated Joseph Gorgas House.

The process with the Historical Commission altered the project’s design significantly compared to the renderings presented in January 2024.

“The original proposal that we made was to really try and set our building apart from the Joseph Gorgas house,” Patrino said. “Over the course of four different iterations with the Historical Commission, we ultimately settled on a design that reflects the color scheme of the Joseph Gorgas house and the brick character that’s very predominant in Mt. Airy.”

She added, “We are very excited about this design, and it was deeply influenced and guided by the members of the Historical Commission, and the collaboration with them.”

The project joins an emerging section of Germantown Avenue with several businesses opening up in the last several years between Upsal and Sedgwick Streets.

In that corridor are businesses including Downtime Bakery, Adelie Coffee House, Mount Airy Breakfast Boutique, and Malelani Cafe.

Patrino said she’s very open to whatever the commercial space ends up being.

“My mission on the commercial space is really supporting local businesses and local operators,” Patrino said. “We have a mix of really interesting operators throughout our portfolio.We’ve got everything from coffee shops. We’re going to be opening a comic book store in Roxborough … I think part of what makes Mt. Airy such a special place is the vibrancy and the diversity, and that’s across all demographics, and part of what’s making the avenue so appealing as a place to live.”

Tommy Tucker can be reached at Tommy@chestnuthilllocal.com.