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Board signs off on façade changes for new mixed-use building at 150–168 E. Lancaster
Summary
Berger Development’s façade modifications — including added louvers, wall lighting and a revised trash-room/dumpster configuration — were approved after the developer said the building has a temporary certificate of occupancy and the inspector flagged several changes from the 2024 submission that have been color-matched or concealed.
The Radnor Design Review Board approved façade modifications to the new apartment-and-retail building at 150–168 East Lancaster Avenue after Berger Development officials described several deviations from the project’s original 2024 design-review drawings.
Matt Johnson, representing Berger Development, told the board the building is essentially complete, that the project received a temporary certificate of occupancy and that residents already occupy units. He described changes the building inspector flagged, including added louvers and vents for retail mechanical systems, wall-mounted security-style lights in an alley, increased brick detailing on piers and a roll-up, color-matched door concealing a dumpster under the building. "We've received our TCO on the entire building," Johnson said.
Johnson said the items not shown on the 2024 plans — notably a louver and an exhaust pipe on the Luella elevation and a new egress stair that became exterior due to site grades — would be painted or otherwise color-matched to adjacent materials to reduce visual impact. The applicant provided recent photos to show the built condition and said the trash/dumpster area will be concealed behind a custom-painted roll-up door.
Board members and staff asked the applicant to confirm finishes for the exposed metal stair and requested that louvers be painted to match surrounding brick or siding. A staff member noted that the west elevation rendering did not reflect a newly exposed stair and asked whether the board wanted the stair railing to be coated rather than left galvanized. Johnson agreed to provide photos and noted that color-matching and painting of penetrations were planned.
A member moved to approve the façade modifications for DRB-2026-34 with the understanding that louvers facing Saint Mary's would be painted to match their brick surrounds and that other penetrations would be color-matched; another member seconded and the board voted aye.
The board’s approval records the developer’s commitment to color-matching mechanical penetrations and to provide the board with any follow-up elevation details the staff requests.
