7611 Germantown AveUnder construction

A 114-unit apartment building is under construction at 7611 Germantown Avenue in Mount Airy, rising five stories on a roughly acre-sized lot. The project by Trolley Car Development LP, which picked up the site in 2022, cleared to build that same spring and is making its way out of the ground now. The building will include vacant commercial space at street level along the Germantown Avenue frontage—a requirement in CMX2 zoning—with apartments stacked above and 38 parking spaces tucked underground alongside bike storage and a loading berth. A green roof covering more than 60 percent of the top deck helped the developer unlock density bonuses, along with a moderate-income housing component that pushed the unit count higher than standard zoning would otherwise allow.

The construction approach splits into two types: concrete and steel for the base and wood-frame above, a cost-effective hybrid common in mid-rise multifamily. The project taps into available bonuses smartly, using the green roof and income-restricted units to maximize yield on a site that measures just over 41,000 square feet. It's a textbook example of how CMX2 can accommodate substantial density when a developer is willing to check the right boxes and navigate the ground-floor commercial mandate that often complicates pro formas on neighborhood corridors.

This isn't an isolated bet on upper Germantown Avenue—there's a 76-unit project at 20 West Allens Lane nearby, the only comparable building within a half-mile radius. Together, the two developments represent a modest but real wave of multifamily interest in Mount Airy, a neighborhood that has seen relatively light new construction compared to denser transit corridors closer to Center City. Trolley Car's willingness to build at this scale suggests confidence in the fundamentals: good transit access, stable demand, and enough land to make the numbers work without paying downtown prices.

The question now is whether other underbuilt parcels along Germantown Avenue follow suit. CMX2 zoning runs for blocks in both directions, and plenty of single-story retail and surface parking could theoretically support similar projects. If this building leases well and the Allens Lane project performs, expect more interest in assemblages that can handle five stories and triple-digit unit counts without requiring major zoning relief.