It was just last week when we whisked you away to the heart of Germantown, where there was a proposal for a 148-unit project to rise on a former building materials site. Despite the upgrade over a mostly empty property, the community was not fond of the project, stating it was much too large for 42-68 Church Ln., just a chip shot away from the Germantown Ave. commercial corridor, which is plenty busy in its own right. However, Olympia Holdings and KJO Architecture have revised the plans in anticipation of a follow-up community meeting.

These updated plans sure seem to take to heart all of the feedback that has been received thus far. The unit count has been dropped from 148 to 125, with parking increasing from 74 planned spaces up to 93. Bike parking has been increased from 50 to 56 spaces, and two commercial spaces have been added to the proposal along Church Lane. Additionally, the size of the building has been scaled back, with the entire building being set back from the street frontage, along with an additional setback above the fourth floor to lessen the impact of the building’s scale. Street trees have also been added, creating a more pleasant streetscape for those walking past.

While we typically favor additional density and less parking, this updated proposal seems like it strikes a nice balance between the desires of the developers and those of the near neighbors. Sitting on a residential street requires a bit of a gentle touch to make a large multi-family project such as this blend in, and we feel the new approach does a pretty good job of reaching that goal.

However, our opinion is only one of many, and there’s sure to be plenty more at a follow-up RCO meeting tonight at 6pm. We hope that this adjusted proposal is met with open arms, as it would be a shame to see this site sit fallow into the future. Perhaps the community will jump on board with the revised proposal – or maybe we’ll be sharing yet another iteration in the coming months.