While much of Germantown is zoned for single family homes, there are a few pockets where apartments are permitted, like the property next to Germantown Town Hall which we covered earlier this month. Due to the limited by-right opportunities in this evolving neighborhood, blocks with more permissively zoned properties can be rapidly transformed with new buildings. The 200 block of W. Rittenhouse Street, near Vernon Park, is a fine example of this phenomenon.

212-14 W Rittenhouse Street was used as a parking lot for decades, but developers have thankfully eliminated this parking lot and constructed a five-story mixed-use building with 32 units and ground floor retail. The building has been dubbed The Ritt (you know, because it’s on Rittenhouse Street), and the units are being marketed at prices ranging from $1,395/mo to $1,995/mo. Even though parking was not required for this by-right project, the development team included 16 spots anyway, likely in anticipation of tenant demands. Fortunately, the parking is largely hidden from street view, tucked behind the commercial space and accessed via Marion Street.

Just across the street, we find another project that will add more density to this block. A former auto repair shop at 225 W Rittenhouse St. has been demolished, with a new mixed-use building making pretty good progress in its place. 37 apartments will sit above ground floor commercial in this five story building which was built by-right, like its new neighbor. Also like the project at 212-14 W. Rittenhouse St., this project will include some non-required parking, with 8 spots accessed via Haines Street. Unfortunately, the exit to the parking area will result in a curb cut on Rittenhouse Street.

Given the two projects we just discussed, the vacant lot at 231 W Rittenhouse St. would seem like the next obvious redevelopment site, right? Not so fast.

The owners of Rittenhouse SoundWorks, located on the other side of the new building at 225 W. Rittenhouse St., own the parking lot. And they’re looking to keep it as is. They recently applied for a variance to legalize the surface parking here, and we suspect that the variance will end up being granted. Incidentally, even though the property next door is zoned for multi-family use, the current and future parking lot is zoned for single-family use. Looking forward, any mixed-use redevelopment of this property would require approval from the ZBA, despite the presence of a five-story apartment building next door. For that reason, we would expect to see a surface lot remain here for the foreseeable future.