It was just about a year ago when we checked in on the Gretz Brewery at 1524 Germantown Ave. in South Kensington. At the time, developer The Rufo Companies had presented updated renderings for the revamp of the decrepit former brewery, a 200-unit, mixed-use proposal with 48 parking spaces. We had hoped that things would be in progress by now, but so far, it appears that no work has taken place. When we checked out the site, it looked quite similar to when we visited previously.

An extension to the zoning permit for the site was granted last week, which requires a construction permit to be pulled by mid-April 2023. Is this good news? Perhaps, as it does indicate a desire to move forward with the current plans. Had the extension not been issued, it may have been due to a lack of interest by the developer to pursue this project and would have represented a return to square one for the property. We aren’t especially excited about the delay, but we’re holding out hope that plans materialize within this timeline. Here, let’s check out these renderings to see how this site may look, moving forward.

We sure hope that this moves forward soon, as there is a wild amount of development happening within a few block radius of this location. Remember, we were one block up on the 1600 block of Germantown Ave. back in December 2020 to check on two in-progress projects. As you can see, things are wrapped, and other smaller projects have joined the fold as well. We were pleased to see the ground floor commercial space filled up, though the multiple for-sale units across the street caused us to pensively rub our chin. Perhaps once Gretz gets going, we’ll see things fill in even further on this rapidly evolving stretch.