SEPTA has released a Request for Proposal or RFP (view here) that seeks a developer to redevelop the SEPTA-owned property at 101 Washington Street in Conshohocken with apartments and a parking garage. The RFP is mostly legal language and does not require a specific number of apartments to be constructed above the parking structure that would serve the train station and the apartment community.
The property was originally slated solely for a parking garage that was a partnership between SEPTA and PennDOT. The garage would have served the train station and a PennDOT plan to encourage drivers on the Schuylkill Expressway to exit in Conshohocken and continue their journey on train. The RFP states that $27 million in the form of a grant [from PennDOT] is available towards the construction of the garage.
Over the summer of 2023, transit activists and The Philadelphia Inquirer’s editorial board advocated for the plan to be rethought due to the cost and the belief that the area surrounding train stations should be dense with housing.
After initial hesitation, Conshohocken’s borough council voted 6-1 to approve a memorandum of understanding (view document) between SEPTA and the Borough of Conshohocken that outlined how SEPTA could proceed with the RFP that seeks to redevelop the property with no commitment to amend the zoning code to approve a proposed plan. The council had removed residential uses within the zoning districts along the Schuylkill River (Where 101 Washington Street is located) in 2022 citing public safety concerns and the impact on emergency services.
The memorandum also states that if any proposal that originates from this RFP process seeks zoning relief and is denied approval, SEPTA is then obligated to build the garage (if the funding from PennDOT is still available).
SEPTA is holding a pre-proposal meeting on July 25th and then the the proposals from developers are required to be provided by August 15th.