Developer may stall Brewerytown plan Getting the city to demolish buildings is at issue.

The city's plan to turn abandoned warehouses, vacant houses, and a former horse stable in North Philadelphia's Brewerytown into more than 400 affordable and market-rate houses could be in jeopardy.

Officials at the Westrum Development Co., the primary developer of the project, say they will not build unless the city demolishes vacant warehouses in the neighborhood.

"We had hoped to begin both sales and construction in May," said Seth Shapiro, Westrum vice president of urban operations.

A community group has filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming that the Street administration did not properly notify residents before it rezoned the proposed Westrum site at 31st and Master Streets from industrial to residential.

Both issues highlight the difficulties the city encounters as it seeks, under Mayor Street's $275 million anti-blight Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, to demolish vacant buildings to make way for private developers and community groups to build houses and businesses.

Westrum is the linchpin in the city's multifaceted redevelopment plan for a section of Brewerytown bounded by 30th, 31st, 33d and Jefferson Streets and Girard Avenue.

Westrum, based in Fort Washington, plans to build 144 market-rate townhouses on a former Acme market parking lot between 31st, 32d, Master and Thompson Streets that it bought from a private owner.

The townhouses, which are expected to sell for $200,000 or more, would anchor a redevelopment project that would eventually include 460 new and rehabilitated, market-rate and affordable houses and apartments built by several developers.

Affordable generally means government-subsidized houses and apartments for lower-income owners and renters.

But Shapiro said it makes no sense for Westrum to build the first phase of the project if the abandoned warehouses remain because they will dampen buyer interest. More than a year ago, he said, city officials promised to demolish the warehouses.

Street administration officials say they hope to start demolition soon; they have set aside more than $300,000 for the task. But City Council has yet to approve the money, which is part of an overall $4.2 million package for commercial demolition.

Fearing that Westrum's townhouses would increase property taxes and force longtime, low-income residents to move, the African American Business and Residents Association in Brewerytown recently sued the city.