And then what you can see in the lower right here is you can see that outdoor staircase.
that's where the dogs will be walked up directly to that second floor in the dog grooming area
so the dog grooming and the the second floor dog grooming and the first floor doggy daycare
will not be interacting and you won't have more you know dogs coming and going kind of creating
that disturbance so with that i would call your your client yes uh alex abdallah
alex right alex alex yes right
okay they raised a virtual hand you'll be coming back in shortly
jason do me a favor try to put your volume up we're having a hard time hearing it
i'm sorry sir how is this maybe try a little bit more
Maybe try a little bit more.
Let me see if I can rejoin my audio.
I'll be right back.
Thank you.
All right.
Thank you.
I saw on the screen that his hand was raised.
I don't know what.
What's his name?
Alex Abdallah.
He's been promoted.
Alex, could you unmute?
um counsel he may be having a problem uh you're an officer of the court we'll accept your testimony
questions from the board do you have a rendering of the outdoor space uh pardon me do you have a
rendering of the outdoor space or where the dogs are or current said it was the outdoor space for
outdoor play area oh is that where the covering is yes i'm sorry so yeah you you see it here
it's uh fenced off that is open to the air right now we're building out that second floor addition
to basically cover that that's an outdoor space um i can show you an existing photo
so here is it hear me yeah hold on a minute or alex could you please state your name is
spell for the stenographer? Alex Abdallah. First name is A-L-E-X. Last name's Abdallah. A's in
Apple. B's in Boy. D's in David. A-L-L-A. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole
truth, nothing but the truth? I do. You want to tell them what you're doing? Sure. Mr. Abdallah,
we're showing the board right now. They had a question with regard to where the open dog area
was going to be so i'm just showing them this is the current uh situation of open space and we're
going to be building over that attaching to the next door property and then the under underlying
portion here will be the open air space for the animals correct other questions
but do you want to sure get your testimony adopted mr abdallah uh you're here on behalf
of cosmos daycare and grooming salon correct yes and did you hear all the testimony i presented
today yes and do you believe it to be true and correct to the best of your knowledge information
and belief yes and would you adopt it as your own yes thank you do you have the support of that house
that you're talking about attaching the um outdoor area to do you have the do you know if you contacted
that neighbor i'll refer you to mr abdallah yes we did we have their support okay thank you
You're welcome the questions. Okay. So when you do this, you're going to have what is the surface
or the outdoor area for the dogs? Are we going to have some kind of sure? Mr. Abdallah, could
you please explain to the board when this area that I'm showing right now on the screen is
completely finished right now, it's just a parking pad, right? When it's completely finished,
what is that surface going to be what is it going to like look like and function as when it's if you
can go down to the to the finished drawings it'll show uh closed in fence area on rittner street
side it'll have the um the driveway is on that side on moy mensing street side has a nice flower
pot it has gate up it has a little bit closed in but still outdoor area um i think the question
was is it going to remain concrete or is it going to be grass or something like that concrete with
the flowers and plants on the outside of the building the inside will be concrete with drains
so that it's cleaned and washed and taken care of periodically okay so that's how you're going
to handle that part of things okay right all right and then uh again I'm always um whenever
we have these doggie daycares. My concern, of course, is always about the waste and how often
it's going to be removed and to make sure that the indoor space, there's some kind of ventilation
and what have you. There'll be ventilation in the basement area where it's stored and it'll be
on private pickup daily. Okay. All right. Thank you. You're welcome. How often are the dogs going
to be in the yard and approximately how many do you anticipate having out there at a time
so so we do right now we have we have an active business as it is
So we do. Right now we have we have an active business as it is, but it doesn't carry as many dogs.
So we only take them out in sections of five. There's two people that take them.
They'll go out there just to relieve themselves, but they also will go for walks as well.
So they're not out there all day. They're just out there periodically in sections of five at a time to get out, get a little fresh air,
go to the bathroom before they go for their walk it depends on um how often we would be able to walk
them okay questions more attorney um just to comment again we're holding in hearing with
regard to the issue of parking that we already talked about understood and agreed to thank you
questions or comments from the virtual audience
mr chair i do not see any hands raised thank you planning by the way we hear you very well
very good jason thank you planning commission amy boy with the planning commission amy boyd
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do please proceed the comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning to the current
CMX-1 commercial mixed use.
The appellant has demonstrated
that the lot dimensions present unique
physical circumstances that
would prevent the property from being used
in conformance with the zoning code.
The Planning Commission recommends that the board
grant their requested variance for open area
and second floor use.
Thank you. When do we
want to do this?
I think we should be able to do it in a week.
That's wonderful.
We'll do it next week at 2 p.m.
we'll vote thank you very much thank you thank you we're going to go to number four
mi 2026 003 714 5100 lancaster avenue
counsel you've already been sworn uh earlier today would you just state your name and spell
it for no just state your name we already had meredith ferliger and could you identify your
client relationship to the property my client is haverford square by metropolitan 2 llc uh and
And that LLC is represented today by German Yakubov, who is to my left.
And we have a letter of support from, let's see here, Councilman Jones.
And obviously, we have a few letters of opposition.
Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Good afternoon.
Have you submitted your documents and exhibits 14 days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I did.
And do you waive the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
do waive the reading i don't stipulate to the accuracy the uh height that's listed is inaccurate
i'll address it in my presentation all right thank you your screen and proceed with your case thank
uh all right mr chairman members of the board the request before you today is for the first phase
of a transformational multi-block development that has the potential to reinvigorate and spark
continued investment into the city's cathedral park neighborhood of west philadelphia
this first phase is small enough that it did not trigger cdr the board will see the other two
larger sites will not see the other two larger sites until cdr has concluded but i do have some
general context information to present to you today just to sort of set the the context of this
in relation to those other developments as well today's request for relief as you can see on the
refusal only pertains to the building height which is an increasingly common request that has come
before this board for other similar mixed-use projects up and down Lancaster Avenue as board
chairman mentioned in the exhibit packet at exhibit 14 is a letter of support from councilman curtis
jones so the property before you today is located at 5100 lancaster avenue as you can see here up
on the screen at exhibit 9 on the zoning map the property is a rectangular corner parcel located
on lancaster avenue with dual frontage on north 51st street as you can see here it sits among a
fairly densely zoned area with industrial commercial mixed use, basically the entire
opposing side of the street, and then CMX2 covering much of Lancaster Avenue, as well as RM1
to essentially the rear of these properties on Lancaster. At Exhibit 10, I have included aerial
At Exhibit 10, I have included aerial views showing the mixed context that surrounds this particular property here.
This was formerly the home of a banquet hall and did also have religious assembly uses in its historical past.
Prior to even that, the property had history of both manufacturing and automotive uses.
And then from the east view here, you can see the existing two-story building on North 51st Street, which also sits on this lot and has already been renovated.
aided. And then from the, let me see if this is the north view, from the north view, let me just
flip back up here. I'll point out the other two larger phases that the board will see in a couple
of months. One to the right, which is in this area here, you can see it's somewhat of an oddly
shaped parcel that's directly across the street and then one here uh to the essentially the other
side of this warehouse i think i might have a better image of this one um i don't have it here
i have it in a couple of additional slides but it is essentially to the right of the warehouse that
you can see here now otherwise you might notice from these images that the area is still occupied
by fairly significant automotive uses, industrial uses, and commercial uses.
And then there is also still significant vacancy that exists in this area as well.
Zooming in a little bit more in terms of the photographs, I have brought up Exhibit 15.
And again, you can see here the vacant corner lot that's before you today.
To the left is a seemingly vacant building, which has no evidence of any form of an active use.
And then next to that is a spa.
Let me show you that here.
This is actually to the right here.
In the distance here, you can see a self-storage facility, which is a little further up Lancaster Avenue.
And then across the street, the activity here is relatively similar.
You can see here this brick building, which seemingly was formerly a banquet hall, although it is unclear if it is still in use at this point.
And then to the right of that is the only real residential area directly adjacent to this property, which is mixed single family and multifamily as well.
And then directly across the property on 51st Street is a fraternal lodge.
And then again, looking from the 51st Street here, you can see the general scale of the area, particularly across the street here in the former banquet hall.
Now, as the board knows, the ICMX classification that does encompass this entire opposing side of the street would permit buildings of significant height.
And then the next photograph here, you can see the exterior here of the other building that sits on this site, which was retained.
This was formerly an automotive garage that my client has now converted into a boxing gym, as well as their corporate offices are now in this location as well.
As German will share, they have such a deep belief in the potential for this area that they physically moved there themselves as well.
and then the rest of 51st street moving a little bit south here you can see is again fairly
automotive and commercial in nature and then if we back up towards the end of this block you can
start to see the context here related to one of the other phases of the project that you will see
in a couple months so you can see here the empty parking lot and then we did also include photographs
of our timely posting in terms of the actual project here i've brought up the zoning plans
at exhibit five here you can see the site layout of the proposed new building which will sit
directly at the corner you can see that there is a separation provided between the new building
and the historic garage to provide efficient access for loading and trash disposal as well
overall this first phase encompasses 45 units with five to be reserved as affordable through
the mixed income housing bonus program with the existing building right south below here
the proposal complies with all dimensional and use regulations imposed by the
The proposal complies with all dimensional and use regulations imposed by the CMX2 district, with the exception of the proposed height.
And then you can see here from the side elevation, the building is proposed to be six stories, with commercial at the ground floor and residential above.
Now, more specifically, you can see here that the commercial space is proposed with 16 foot high ceilings, which is ultimately the driving factor of the relief, the necessary relief before the board today.
And then in terms of the refusal itself and the comment I made at the beginning, you can see here that the height to the roof is 66 feet, 8 inches, and a little change there, which is the measurement that L&I should have reflected on the refusal.
I think they were maybe accounting for the elevator, which should be exempt from height.
And then in terms of the floor plans, I've included those at Exhibit 6.
There is a small basement that is proposed for tenant storage, utility, electric room, as well as a pet washing station, which is super relevant to the last case.
And then at the first floor, you can see the commercial space occupies 5,872 square feet.
The first floor here also has a lobby, mail and package room, first floor bike storage, a trash room that is served by a chute throughout the building, and then a designated outdoor pet area as well.
And then we did also include floor plans of the upper level units. But overall, there are 42 bedroom units and five one bedroom units that vary in layouts and sizes between about 556 square feet to 881 square feet.
We did also include more focused floor plans, typical floor plans for the units. We can certainly walk you through any questions that you might have on those as well.
and then importantly at exhibit seven we've included a rendering showing the stunning
aesthetic intent for not only this building but for the entire broader project that is meant
to capture both the residential and the industrial character of the neighborhood
and really try and blend them together what you can see here from this image is the dominant
commercial frontage that is meant to serve as a new gateway to cathedral park
now at exhibit eight i have included just a couple of maps again to give you some important context
in terms of how this first phase which is labeled the george house is intended to be oriented among
the two larger phases to come so you can see here this is that self-storage facility uh and then
phase two three and then directly to the right is the other larger phase both of those are in
process of of cdr and then i've included a couple of images i won't spend a lot of time on these at
this point but these are from the cdr presentations from those other developments showing some of the
critical transit routes that serve the site as well as some of the internal connections that
are being designed between all of these three different project sites as well and then you
can see here the internal walkways that are also being proposed in addition to the transit routes
because they are all in such close proximity i did also include a rendering of the project at 50 30
just again to kind of give you a sense of how this one will interact with that project as well
should the board be inclined to grant all of the relief that will be before you
now with respect to the refusal for height the applicant submits to a hardship in complying with
the code requirements as i and german will explain we do submit that the requested variance is the
least minimum as you know the refusal was issued for exceeding the code maximum height of 45 feet
which accounts for the bonus allowance just over 66 feet is proposed not including the exempted
elevator tower. As I'll have German explain in his own words, the additional height here is
absolutely crucial to support a viable mixed-use development in this location. Quite bluntly put,
a building of 45 feet high cannot support the necessary height for a commercial space
that will attract tenants to this area. That's especially true in light of the project team's
vision for these commercial spaces that you'll hear from German momentarily.
that you'll hear from German momentarily. Now, if you were to remove the 16-foot commercial space,
Now, if you were to remove this.