The Hub at Germantown Station: A Place to Live, Work and Interact

PROJECT SUMMARY
The client, Central Germantown Council (CGC), is a nonprofit community development corporation that began operating in 1981. The mission of the CGC is to improve the Central Germantown area physically and socially through economic development activities, which include job placement and retainment, increased availability for goods and services, and the rehabilitation of vacant lands.

Aided by conversations with the client and the research of Germantown conducted by Real Estate Strategies, Inc. and the g2k6 Planners from the University of Pennsylvania, G6 Consulting drafted this development plan with the primary goal of capitalizing upon Germantown's intrinsic assets - mainly its accessibility to public transportation, significant institutional presence, historic wealth, and longstanding tradition as a retail center. For this plan, G6 Consulting focused on a specific area in Germantown - the area which immediately surrounds the SEPTA R7 Germantown Station. The analysis of existing conditions reveals that the Germantown Station is an underutilized station that has been threatened with closure due to low ridership. In addition, several large vacant and underutilized parcels are located in close proximity to the station. The site is located along the Chelten Avenue retail corridor, but constitutes a gap in the retail frontage. And while there has been increasing investment in residential areas in the vicinity of the site, spill-over into Central Germantown has not occurred, leaving an opportunity for investment and development to reverse its current direction.