20-unit residential new construction, zoned RM1.
A 20-unit apartment building is under way at 921–23 East Chelten Avenue in East Germantown, taking advantage of the city's mixed-income housing bonus to push density on a 7,601-square-foot lot. The four-story structure will rise under RM1 zoning, topped with a common roof deck and pilot houses, and incorporate full sprinkler and standpipe systems along with underpinning work monitored by a licensed engineer. Boyer Lofts LLC took title in 2024 and cleared the project for construction this past September, bringing another mid-rise infill play to a corridor that's seen scattered development in recent years.
The developer is leaning on the bonus provisions to maximize yield on a relatively compact site—20 units on roughly 0.17 acres translates to roughly 117 units per acre, a level of density RM1 typically wouldn't accommodate without the incentive. The mixed-income requirement will shape the tenant mix, though exact affordability splits aren't spelled out in the construction scope. Four stories keeps the building well below the threshold where elevators become obligatory, a cost consideration that matters on smaller parcels like this one.
East Chelten Avenue hasn't seen a major multi-family wave, but the immediate area now counts 18 units in the pipeline or recently delivered within a half mile, including a pair of nine-unit projects at 837 East Chelten and 5522 Sprague Street. The clustering suggests developers are testing the neighborhood's appetite for new rental stock without flooding the zone all at once. Boyer Lofts' willingness to pursue mixed-income density here—rather than sticking to smaller, by-right boxes—indicates confidence that the fundamentals can support both market-rate and restricted units in a transitional stretch of Germantown.
If 921–23 East Chelten pencils out, expect other RM1 landowners along the avenue to take a fresh look at their holdings. The mixed-income bonus remains underutilized citywide, and parcels in the 7,000- to 10,000-square-foot range are plentiful in neighborhoods like this one. Whether the next round tilts toward similar 20-unit builds or smaller infill depends largely on how quickly Boyer Lofts can lease up and what rents the market will bear once the building delivers.
📄 View the project's plan drawings (PDF)As this density arrives, InvestPHL is tracking 106 under-built parcels within a half-mile that a developer could still acquire and build — each carrying a builder's max bid. Addresses and figures are members-only.
Unlock the 106 nearby opportunities →Major (8+ unit) new-construction projects filed within a half-mile since 2022 — the density gathering around this site.