Lower Merion planners to discuss new Bala Cynwyd apartments plan next week

A plan for a large new apartment building, the second to come forward since commercial properties on City Avenue in Bala Cynwyd were rezoned two years ago, will be up for review next week in Lower Merion Township.

A tentative sketch plan for a six-story, 207-unit apartment building at 150 Monument Road will be before the townships planning commission Monday, July 28.

With planners recommendation, it would move forward to the Building and Planning Committee of the board of commissioners two days later.

Also next week, an ordinance to rezone properties on Bala Avenue under a new Bala Village zoning district will get a first look. The Building and Planning Committee will be asked to consider authorizing advertisement of a public hearing on the ordinance for possible adoption on Sept. 17.

Also in Bala Cynwyd: Lower Merion School Board discusses potential bus parking in Bala

Monument KPG III LLCs plan proposes a new residential building on part of its seven-acre parcel at 150 Monument Road, to join an existing six-story office building.

A new four-story parking garage would also be constructed to serve the office building, while there will be two levels of parking, 207 spaces, in the apartment building. In all, 673 parking spaces would be provided on the parcel, exceeding the 639 required, according to the plan on file with the township.

Drawings with the plan show a center courtyard with a pool deck in the residential building. The parking garage would include about 3,900 square feet of commercial or restaurant space.

The development proposal follows by a little more than a year a first apartment project under 2012s comprehensive rezoning of the City Avenue commercial district in Lower Merion to permit redevelopment of what was seen to be an office park and retail area in need of revitalization. A goal of rezoning, while permitting greater density and building height, was to transform the district over time into a 24/7 live-work-play environment, including new residential development.

Nolen Properties plan for an 11-story, 284-unit apartment complex on five acres at 335 Righters Ferry Road was first out of the gate. It received tentative sketch plan approval in March 2013. Under that plan, which is expected to come back for more detailed preliminary plan review in coming months, the historic Miller-Bell House, a farmhouse whose core dates to 1695, would be preserved on the property. Continued...

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Lower Merion planners to discuss new Bala Cynwyd apartments plan next week