The Cheltenham Township Board of Commissioners will hold its regular Public Works and Building and Zoning committee meetings on Wednesday, September 4.
Items on those agendas include a review of the Ashlyn Development project (1900 Ashbourne Road in Cheltenham) and a review of the zoning application for the Pitcairn proposed development (165 Township Line Road in Jenkintown).
Ashlyn Development Project
The township received a preliminary land development application for the proposed Ashlyn mixed-use apartment complex in July.
A sketch proposal for the property by Lynnewood Gardens was submitted to the Township in August 2023. The development plan calls for 99 residential units, commercial space, and paved parking.
Henry Sekawungu, Director of Zoning and Planning, said the application went through the Zoning process, was approved for various variances, and is now going through a preliminary review.
“That will allow them to get a recommendation from the public works committee to the board of commissioners,” Sekawungu said. “Once a resolution is passed, they’ll be required a final Land Development application. Right now, it’s a preliminary plan.”
Pitcairn Development Project
Sekawungu said JOSS Realty’s zoning application is requesting relief on behalf of changes to their proposal.
“The prior relief was for a mixed-use building with offices and commercial space. Now they’re proposing to have the commercial space on the ground floor and the apartments above. They want to change the offices to apartments,” he said.
Sekawungu noted that the main building, Pitcairn I, will still be offices.
“The other building in the rear [Pitcairn II] is proposed to be apartments. They’ll also construct a three-story mixed-use building [Pitcairn III] with apartments on the top floors and commercial space on the ground floor,” he said.
The new building is proposed for the parking lot adjacent to the Jenkintown-Wyncote Train Station and is expected to house 50 apartments and a retail or restaurant space on the ground floor.
The Zoning Hearing Board application will be reviewed by the Building & Zoning committee on Wednesday evening before it proceeds to the Zoning Hearing Board on September 9. Sekawungu said the board will make a recommendation then.
Page 49 of Jenkintown Borough’s agenda from August 28 is a notice from Cheltenham Township, which states:
APPEAL NO. 24-3763: Application of 165 Township Line Road Owner, LLC, owner of the property known as 165 Township Line Road, Jenkintown, PA 19046, from the Decision of the Zoning Officer for Zoning Relief to allow for the conversion of the existing Pitcairn I building from offices to 36 residential apartments and the construction of a new three (3) story mixed-use building (Pitcairn III) with 50 apartments, ground level retail or restaurant and parking on the property located within the MU-2 Mixed Use Zoning District.
In April, Cheltenham Township’s Zoning Hearing Board granted a one-year extension to JOSS Realty. As far as the one-year extension goes, JOSS has until May 3, 2025 to proceed with a land development application, Sekawungu said.
6,509 sf are available for lease at One Pitcairn Place, and 5,596 – 16,325 sf are available for lease at Two Pitcairn Place. As of 2017, the buildings’ offices were 99 percent occupied, according to a JOSS press release.
JKRP Architects, a Philadelphia firm, is heading up the project. The Philadelphia firm is responsible for the changes at Green Leaf at Cheltenham and Chelten Plaza.
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Renderings: Cheltenham Chamber of Citizens, Movoto.com