Philadelphia-based developer Anthony Fullard, president of West Powelton Development, presented redevelopment plans for the Germantown Town Hall building on Feb. 26.

Before the meeting, Fullard spoke with the Local, detailing plans for the project.

Previous proposals for the site called for a residential component to the redevelopment, but “the numbers just didn’t work, just could not get the numbers or the amount of units into the town hall, just for it to make sense. So we had to scrap that plan,” Fullard said.

The current proposal would be entirely commercial, with the building’s rotunda operating as a community space.

“A structure like this, to see it sit for so long, and because I’m in the development industry, and I’m from Germantown, and I just inquired if I could take a look at developing this building,” Fullard said. “This has been a four-to-five-year task to get something that would even make it doable, but we were able to figure it out.”

The building, at 5928 Germantown Ave., has been vacant for over two decades and was constructed in the 1920s.

Fullard said the proposal would have a charter school occupy the second and third floors with a prospective tenant that he declined to name.

“We have had interest, good, solid interest, with another educational operation that did a walk-through, and loved the space,” Fullard said. “It was very good timing, because they are looking to expand. They wanted it to be up in the Germantown area, because a large number of their employees and also students were around the 19144 area. They have committed to lease out two floors, the second and third floors of the town hall.”

For the basement, Fullard said he hopes to bring in a commercial kitchen and potentially a cafe.

“We do have a restaurant that wants to do maybe a cafe in the basement, but really wants to have a commercial kitchen and those kitchen operations in the basement,” Fullard said. “We love that idea. We think that a lot of the local eateries and food truck individuals could really use that space, and we would love to accommodate that kind of operation coming out of the basement.”

Fullard, who is still seeking a tenant for the first floor, hosted a walk-through with the 14th Police District as a potential tenant.

“We feel as though the rotunda could really serve as an opportunity for the community to really benefit from having community meetings there. It could be an event space,” Fullard said.

Timeline and funds

By August, Fullard said, he aims to have final plans and cost estimations ready for approval. The building isn’t under Fullard’s ownership; it is currently controlled by the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation.

He hopes to start construction by early 2027, with a move-in date in the second quarter of 2028.

With the total cost estimate still undetermined, Fullard projects the preservation development of the existing building to cost $13 million. He looks to bring in $8.6 million in grants for the project, including $2.6 million in Historic Tax Credits, $3 million in New Markets Tax Credits, and $3 million from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program.

Suzanne Ponsen, president of West Central Germantown Neighbors, attended the meeting and told the Local that it was a “good thing” that there were no additional construction elements as part of the plan.

She does “worry the Town Hall Project could become another unfinished project sitting empty,” like the YWCA, but thinks Fullard’s “design is fine.”

About residents’ reaction during the meeting, Ponsen said, “No one was over the top about it by any means. Some people wanted to see more space for the community. There was just a general malaise. People have seen plans in the community before like the Y with no follow through and they are just tired, I think. It is not a bad plan. I like it generally, but will it happen?”