There are plans for an 86-unit apartment complex next to SEPTA’s Jenkintown station
Montco planners want more pedestrian access in the build.
Eighty-six new apartments are planned for Wyncote in Cheltenham Township as part of a development project that would also include an office and a commercial space.
The building at the center of the 165 Township Line Road property would remain an office, while the project would convert a second existing structure into a 36-unit apartment building, and add a third, 50-unit apartment complex to the site with a parking garage and a retail space on the ground floor, according to a May review letter from the Montgomery County Planning Commission.
The higher-density development would sit about 1,000 feet from SEPTA’s Jenkintown-Wyncote Regional Rail station, which SEPTA plans to rebuild with a pedestrian overpass and other features by 2027.
The lot is zoned for multi-use development, but only the new 50-unit building meets that criteria. Cheltenham Township grandfathered the existing office building into the current zoning ordinances, and the planned 36-unit complex was granted an exemption in 2024.
In addition to the 79-car garage, the plans include a repainted parking lot to boost spaces from 135 to more than 160.
The project is expected to net about half a million dollars annually for the township and Cheltenham School District, according to a February fiscal analysis, and house an estimated six school-aged children.
SEPTA, which aims to boost ridership by encouraging higher density, pedestrian-friendly housing along Regional Rail lines, said Tuesday they’re glad projects like these are moving forward.
“Transit oriented communities reinforce the public’s investment in SEPTA,” spokesperson Kelly Greene said.
JOSS Realty Partners, which had owned the entire property, held a joint open house with SEPTA in 2019 about a project that would’ve allowed SEPTA to use a parking lot on the site.
JOSS still owns the office building that’s excluded from the proposal. The new development is planned to be built on about an acre of the site that was sold off to 165 Town Line Holdings LLC in 2025.
The mailing address for the LLC is a property co-owned by real estate investor Edward Topolewski.
In their review of the proposal, Montgomery County Planning Commission called for more pedestrian and cyclist access.
“We are glad to see new development proposed in the area of the Jenkintown-Wyncote Station,” principal county planner Chloe Mohr wrote.
“For this to be a successful development, pedestrians need to easily and safely travel throughout the site, to the train station, and to other destinations.”
That includes access to future walking trails, the planners wrote, and neighboring Wyncote House.
County officials also suggested that Cheltenham consider improvements to the stormwater management plan.
“It appears that there may currently be erosion and drainage issues here,” Mohr wrote. “With the steep slopes on this site, more may need to be done to remediate stormwater runoff.”
The project was slated for review by the town’s Shade Tree Advisory Commission this month, Cheltenham commissioner Jeff Chirico said, but the developer requested an extension.
The proposal would then head to the township commissioner board.
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