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    The first two phases of the Annex at Germantown apartments are complete, but what’s next?

    By Pryce Jamison

    Published: | Updated: | News

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    The Annex at Germantown is the apartment building now at the 530,000 square foot property once known as Germantown High School. Building owners and managers began to post listings and bring in tenants in June of 2024, and have nearly filled their residential units that were built in two of the campus’s buildings that border Haines Street. After completing the first two phases, they are moving onto phase three.

    The side of the property that faces Germantown Avenue. (Photo: Pryce Jamison)

    It’s been almost a year since the Annex at Germantown, the apartment building standing on the old Germantown High School site, began to list apartments and occupy its space with residents. Phase two of the development is now complete and filled to near capacity, and there are still further plans for construction and renovation across the property in the near future. 

    Two of the property’s buildings are now occupied with residential units, with one being the phase two development of apartments that reside in the Industrial Arts building at 61 E. Haines Street and include four floors of 60 units.

    The five-floor building of 48 units, standing at 39 E Haines Street and bordering Germantown Avenue, was the first phase of unit construction. There, apartments were first listed for rent in June 2024, and 20 residents moved in within the first month.

    Today, 107 units in the Annex are occupied by residents, and only one apartment is currently available in the Industrial Arts building, which is a one-bedroom unit.

    Plans for various apartments and 3,000 square feet of commercial space that was likely to be a coffee shop, a gym space, and a parking lot with 180 spots in the back lot bordering Baynton Street, were presented in the original plans, as reported by us last year.

    Differing from those plans, residential parking is available in a lot on Haines Street that sits directly across the 48-unit building, and parking is also available along Haines Street. Annex manager and landlord Carol Johnson didn’t mention if parking will ever be utilized in the lot bordering Baynton Street.

    “You can tell they began to move people in while they were still working on it,” said a resident of the five-story building, recalling the construction going on in the building when tenants first moved in. “It’s a lot more quiet now.”

    Now there are chandeliers, wall lighting, functioning elevators, and plant decor throughout the hallways of the five-story building. There are currently no known plans to refurbish the interior of the Industrial Arts Building.

    As Germantown High School was added to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places after its closure, the lockers in the hallways of the 48-unit building will still be present and preserved, with no plans of changing that anytime soon.

    A standard hallway in the 39 E. Haines Street apartment building, which has been heavily updated since the building’s opening. (Photo: Pryce Jamison)

    “I know they promised the gym, but as of right now, I don’t know what’s going on with that,” the resident added. “Management’s communication could be better, but the building is really nice and the apartments are really nice.”

    According to property manager Johnson, a gym and indoor basketball court will be completed in the main building by some point this summer.

    Commercial space will be built in the main building, available for business owners to rent. Johnson says it could be anything from a salon suite to a small restaurant.

    “It’s up to whoever rents the space,” he said.

    With weeds, graffiti, debris, and trash still surrounding the High Street side of the property, Johnson mentioned how improving those conditions is an eventual step in the development.

    The part of the property that faces High Street, which was known as the main building of Germantown High School. (Photo: Pryce Jamison)
    The back lot of the property that borders High Street and Baynton street. (Photo: Pryce Jamsion)

    “Once we complete the inside, we always do the exterior of each building,” she said.

    The third phase of construction was said to include 99 units in what was known as the main building of the old High School, which borders High Street.

    Johnson confirmed there’s much more to come on the High Street side, but isn’t exactly sure about what type of apartments will be present in the building, how many there will exactly be, and when exactly we can expect them to be done and available for rent.

    “There will be more units and commercial space. Those units should be done in about a year; I don’t have the exact timeline as of yet,” Johnson said.