SEPTA Seeking RFI for Development at Germantown Station
Written by Jennifer McLawhorn, Managing Editor
Germantown Station property
SEPTA
PHILADELPHIA - SEPTA is seeking Requests for Information (RFI) for the development at Germantown Station located on the Chestnut Hill East Line.
The agency says the station is located in Historic Germantown and acts as a gateway to the Central Germantown Business District. The process will gather information from developers (below) that will then inform the upcoming mixed-use development of the station. This is part of SEPTA’s Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) program, which promotes “equitable and sustainable community development” around transit.
120-128 East Chelten Avenue is a 1.4-acre vacant lot that is the primary target for this proposed development. SEPTA says its development concept includes a ground floor commercial space, upper floor apartments with a “strong affordability component,” access to Germantown Station, and other public amenities.
SEPTA General Manager Scott A. Sauer said, “To help grow revenues beyond the firebox, SEPTA is moving forward with joint development opportunities for Transit Oriented Communities. . . These help secure better returns on SEPTA’s real estate assets and promotes equitable and sustainable development around services.”
The Germantown Station Area Concept Plan (SAC) was created by the community of Germantown and the Authority as a focus on the properties on East Chelten Avenue and how its future development “can align with the City of Philadelphia’s plans for the station area.” SEPTA says it has been approached multiple times to develop the area. In 2018, the City of Philadelphia adopted the Upper Northwest (UNW) District Plan after it recognized the station has a key part of developing the area. SAC works to reflect the goals by the UNW District plan by seeking to identify vacant properties around the station that can potentially become mixed-use buildings.
Elsewhere, the Germantown SAC is also considering how the properties at East Armat Street Bridges at 5547 Lena Street and 5510-18 Bayton Street can be used in transit-oriented community development plans.
