Again, based on the code, the CMX 2.5, and given the lot size, we're allowed seven units.
We're just asking to remove that commercial component on the ground floor, and that's our refusal.
Again, even though we're on this sliver of a commercial corridor, it's really off the B-in path, and you'll see from the photographs.
This is a Google Maps perspective.
So this is the property right now.
as you can see like it definitely needs some tlc in terms of that first floor so as part of the
deal we're making with the community we're going to remove the the utility meters in the front
we're going to replace put them in the basement and then we're going to make some other modifications
to the front of the building on the first floor to make it more pleasing to the eye here's our
zoning hearing notice poster showing that we posted uh three weeks before today's hearing
uh this is midvale avenue to the right of the property as you can see there is not as much of
a commercial corridor here um as further along uh midvale avenue on subsequent blocks so that's
midvale avenue to the left of the property and then interior photos so these are the residential
units we just wanted to show you like you know these are actual photos that tenants would see
and you know the conditions they would you know uh live in um but you can see it's really nice in
there and then we're hoping to convert the first floor unit the same um we would also agree to
provide so no uh living in the basement so the board knows and then this is the commercial
component so it's just raw space right now and that's the roof deck just for the upper unit
So, again, as you can see from the renderings, you can see it's a lot different, that first floor of the current commercial space in the building as a whole.
I have Mark Wallace from Core Architects who can kind of explain the materials that are being used.
I also have, if he's not available, I do have some information about that as well.
But that was really important to the community to make it look a lot nicer than it currently is.
Uh, and then this is, you know, the floor plans. Uh, so here is, you know, going up to the upper floors. Uh, but you can see this is where we would make the modification. This is the commercial unit right now. Uh, so you walk in, you have the kitchenette area, you have a livery room, you have a bathroom, you have a laundry facility, and you have two bedrooms in the back.
again um no one i think it's i think it's common this space there there's no internal staircases
for this fourth floor unit i think it's just going to be tenant storage down there uh and
maybe even garbage stored down there but we have no objection to any proviso no living in the
basement and then these are just the upper floors which are in existing condition and so every
unit will be on its own it would be on its own floor and then we met with the
community a second time on May 21st at 7 p.m. again we had a second meeting
because it was asked of us to make modifications after hopefully we get
zoning approval to the exterior of the first floor so they wanted to see some
renderings and we mailed this notice not many not much density around there to
23 addresses nearby actually more than 23 sorry and then this is proof of
mailing that notice or application for appeal that we filed on behalf of our
K real estate services LLC along with the notice of refusal the project
information form the deed to the property showing that RK real estate
service LLC is the owner of the property and then filing the certificate of tax
clearance showing no balance due with that being said i would ask that everyone
showing no balance due.
With that being said, I would ask that Arun virtually raise his hand
and be sworn in.
This is your client?
Is he going to testify to trying to rent it?
Yeah, I also have the realtor.
I just wanted him to testify some of the matters that I stated.
I'm back in as a panelist now.
Thank you.
Hello.
Hi, could you please state your name as spelled for the stenographer?
Arun Srinivasan.
My company is RK Real Estate LLC.
Name is spelled A-R-U-N.
First name.
Last name is S-R-I-N-I-V-A-S-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Arun, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter.
Yes, I did.
And is it true and correct?
And do you adopt this as your own testimony?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Before I ask Mr. David Locker to virtually raise his hand, I also want to make note that there are five other units or properties on that block, which are also CMX 2.5, which have no commercial component on the ground floor.
3710 mid-vale, 3706 mid-vale, 3704 mid-vale, 3702 mid-vale, and 3700 mid-vale.
There are no commercial uses on the ground floor.
Can I have Mr. Locker raise his hand?
They should be coming back in as a panel shortly as well.
Thank you.
hello hi could you please state your name as bell for the stenographer
sure david locker d-a-v-i-d l-o-c-h-e-r you swear or affirm to tell the truth
told truth nothing but the truth i do mr knockamson yes uh mr locker are you a licensed
realtor in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania? I am. And who's your real estate broker?
Berkshire Hathaway, Fox and Roach Realtors. Okay. And was your real estate broker engaged
to attempt to lease the commercial space for the Midvale Avenue property?
Yes, I was. Or yes, we were, I should say. All right. And how long have you been attempting to
do uh to rent out this commercial space i believe it's been about three and a half years okay and
can you just tell the board uh how those efforts have come about or what the results of those
efforts have been yeah unfortunately it's been a pretty frustrating uh three and a half years
the residential units rented almost immediately after them being put on the market but the
commercial space i may have had three maybe four initially interested parties but at every one of
those parties as we proceeded further along found there to be problems with the building where it
just wouldn't work for them and unfortunately we never actually received a a formal application
from any of those potential tenants in your professional opinion would a residential unit
be viable for this property absolutely I have no further questions questions from the board
yes question where are the mechanicals going to be for this property or where are they now and
How are you rearranging the meters and what have you to accommodate the aesthetics, shall
we say, of this project?
So my understanding, and Arun, correct me if I'm wrong, all the meters are going to
be placed in the basement.
So it's a common basement that is only accessible if the landlord wants only to the landlord,
but they will all be pushed down into the basement area.
Okay. And then in terms of this space, what kind of water service, electrical service, and that kind of thing?
Water service, electrical service, and that kind of thing is already there that can be converted into this residential space.
So, I mean, it's an existing building already with current electrical service and water service.
Was it ever, I mean, but it was never really configured for residential use before, correct?
That is correct. It's a wide open space. I can go back to the picture, but it's just a wide open space right now. It's raw space, but there's electrical service and water service into the building as a whole and into that unit itself.
Was there a bathroom there for potential commercial tenants?
Yeah, and everyone corrected me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe there's any bathroom currently on the first floor unit.
It's just raw space.
Yeah, I agree.
So there is water connection and there is an electrical connection that can be broadened out to fit out whoever the renter would have been for the commercial space.
And the same connections could be used for residential places as well.
While the commercial unit's empty or vacant, there are three active residential units in the building structure.
Okay. Yes, but they were fit out or they were originally constructed for residential use as opposed to this space, which was going to be a commercial or office use, I guess, once it was fit out for whoever might lease it. And you're saying nobody heased it. Is that correct?
Yeah. Again, Mr. Locker stated that he's been trying to lease the property for almost three and a half years and has no has had no viable interest in the commercial space.
Are there any commercial or office uses on this on this block?
there there are and i and actually when i looked at re-looked at my notes i just wanted to make
sure i was being accurate um there is for and i said some of these spaces are you know single
family or non-resident there's you know 3706 is a single family home 3710 is a playground
3704 looks like it's one residential space above um but again maybe if mr locker can
correct me if i'm wrong it looks like it's a baking commercial space 3702 midvale is a single
family um home and 3700 midvale which is on the corner is a barber shop but more appropriate it's
a corner property um but it's it's like on an island if you looked at the zoning map there's
a like maybe six or seven properties in the middle of the block there are cmx two and a half
It looks like there's some residential, and I can kind of share my screen again to kind of show you that.
And then they go CMX 2.5 again, and even the community group acknowledge it's been very challenging for this commercial corridor.
Even with the increased density, I believe there was reference to an apartment building, but it's been very challenging for this commercial corridor.
They had no objection to adding this as a residential unit.
given the amount of time we've been trying to list and market this property in good faith
but you can see here there's like a little bit of a gap like we're this like cmx two and a half
on the island but there's a lot of non-commercial use and then it looks like it gets really heavy
down here i can't tell you what's down here i'll have to take a look at it um but not every one of
these properties even though our cmx two and a half um have a commercial component on the ground
floor so we're asking what's similar to what they have there okay and then trash storage uh
everyone correct me if i'm wrong is there ability to store the trash in in well the units store the
trash inside but is there an ability to to create a trash room down in the basement yes um it's a
It's a common area.
My hope is to use it as a part storage for the residents about and offer that as a storage space for them.
But, yes, that is pretty much the whole basement, again, is wide open with separate access from behind the first floor unit.
And you would have no objection to a proviso trash stored inside?
And we have a commercial trash contract with a commercial trash picker.
And how many times a week for that?
uh i i have to check i have a property manager who runs the place so
i know um i signed one for that but i don't know how often do they do it
I know I signed one for that, but I don't know how often they do it.
I can find out, though.
All right. Thank you.
I have two questions.
One, the space at the rear that gives you access to the basement,
is there a public street on the back or is it accessed by a side yard or an alley?
I didn't see one on the plan.
Let me see.
So, there is a back door that gives access to a rear staircase and the staircase going down to the basement.
Let's just see.
Yeah, but how would you get to that back door?
Oh, I see.
Straight through.
Yeah, cut straight through.
And then my second question is, it says in our notes that there were some aesthetic requests from the East Falls RCO.
what were those like what were their comments yeah so um this right here you can see well
here's it even highlighted better um we're changing the facade first we're getting moving
the electrical meters that are out the front we're going to put them in the basement and then we're
changing the aesthetics where i guess let me just see what the architect has so this isn't was
currently no there yeah let me show you this so that's that that much nicer show the first yeah
sure i'll show you the front page the pit like did i miss that yeah right oh okay and yeah so
it's night and day like what it would look like and then did pico already approve the
relocation of these meters to the basement i that i don't know i would ask the architect who would
that doesn't sound like pico we are going like it's our goal to move them down there i know i
just wonder because it says that that's their conditional support is based on something that
i don't know is possible if i if i may interrupt it's it's my understanding uh this is board
counsel ryan musherry it's my understanding that moving the utility mirrors to the basement is not
permitted under the code it is not that's why i was wondering because it said that that's what
what's going to happen we have it's also not shown on the rendering so that yeah so if we're
not allowed and i'm relying on the architect we're you know we would probably move them to the back
or we would have some type of covering i mean we're trying to act in good faith here that was
our intention we you know collaborated with the architect in that respect so if that's not allowed
we there's opportunities to move him in the back we can also do some type of coverings that you
know, we would work with PICO in that respect as well.
And then have the current tenants already been notified that should this be approved
that there'll be major construction happening at the entrance?
I'm going to leave that to Arun.
I would think the answer is probably not because you don't tell tenants something that may
happen, but I would defer to Arun on that.
No, I have not, but obviously I'm waiting for the permission to do so.
And obviously, that would be the right thing to do, to inform them and make sure they are comfortable with the plan.
And then my last question is about mail.
So, like, right now, you've got three tenants that are entering through mostly residential, entrance, and lobby.
Where is going to be the mail drop-off for all four units now, including larger packages?
Like the. I mean, I can't remember exactly where it is right now, but it's just inside that outside wall that the doors for the ring for the residential units are set back a little bit.
And in that area is where the mailbox is. And we should be able to add the same mailbox.
If you see the new rendering, the door opens into that area, the common area.
So that makes it a common entrance for all of them.
So, yeah.
But it's more open.
So, like, right now you've got it partially covered, and it's going to now be more exposed to the street.
And with the entrance there, I just wasn't sure you could fit all five mailboxes.
But it sounds like you've thought about it.
Yeah, four.
But, yeah, we are hoping that we can.
And if not, we have to make it as secure as possible for the tenants for the packages to be delivered safely.
So as Alan said, yes, we're going to do it as best as possible for it to be an attractive property for the town for East Falls and for the people who are living in the building.
I was less worried about attractiveness and more about egress because you've got a very tight walkway to get to that back door and then you've got a stairwell on the right.