EPA Mid-Atlantic Region | Brownfields Program | Success Story
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Mount Airy, Philadelphia, PA
A Successful Transformation
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Winston Commons
PRO*
Site Description
Historically used for commerce and trade as a
Specialty Store, the 1898 building sat vacant
for five years before renovation began in 2004
to make it the Winston Commons by 2006. The
property was bought by Mt. Airy USA in 2002
for $250,000, putting the project in motion that
converted the former store into 20,000 square
feet of modern retail space and six condos. To-
day, the building is listed as a contributing
building on the Germantown Avenue National Historic' District. Winston Commons is a $4 mil-
lion mixed-use condominium and retail development that broke ground in 2005.
Environmental Issues Addressed
Location of site at 6622 Germantown Ave
Leveraged Resources
Repairing the facility required power washing the brick and installing a new facade on a portion of
the 19th Century building. Demolition was required but the
site was not contaminated. The restoration project involved
infill, brownfield redevelopment, adaptive reuse, and historic
preservation. The site was assessed using a $200,000 EPA
grant awarded to the City of Philadelphia.
Mt. Airy USA received a Home and Garden Television Net-
work and National Trust for Historic Preservation Restore
America grant of $50,000. The collective investment to-
taled to $7 million, including a capital grant of more than
$1 million from Governor Rendell, $2 million from other
grants, and $2 million in private donations. Leading Fed-
eral involvement in the project was through the city's use
of CDBG-funding from HUD.
Grant Types: Assessment
Former Uses: Specialty Store
Current Uses: Apartment complex
and Retail space

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EPA Mid-Atlantic Region | Brownfields Program | Success Story
Behind the Transformation
Current Use Features
Apartments at the former specialty store
The project consisted of 20,000 total
square feet, with six market-rate condo-
minium units, ground floor commercial
including a coffee shop, and 11 parking
spaces. The Commons contains a mix of
retail and condo units. Development of
the property included historic restoration
of several buildings for retail and residen-
tial reuse and contributes to national Ger-
mantown historic district. The units come with $50,000 forgiva-
ble second mortgages that help bring the prices below what a similar condo in Center City Phila-
delphia would command. That stretch of Germantown Avenue is surrounded by established resi-
dential neighborhoods, including 11 new low- and moderate-income townhouses in the 200 block
of East Montana Street that the development corporation recently completed.
Community Benefit
All photos courtesy of Hugh Loomis
Contacts For Further Information: EPA Project
officer Joe Nowak (Nowak.Joseph@epa.gov)
and John Haak from City of Philadelphia.
The Commons is nationally recognized model of suc-
cessful racial and socio-economic integration. In 2008
it was awarded the William Penn Awards of Excellence,
Sustainable Urbanism and Best Conversion or Adaptive
Reuse. That same year it also won Philadelphia Busi-
ness Journal's Best Real Estate Deals Judges' Choice
Award

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