Northwest Philadelphia developer Ken Weinstein effort to take control of Germantown YWCAa long-vacant historic building, failed earlier this month.

Common Pleas Judge Ann Butchart denied Weinstein’s request under Act 135, a state law that kills the disease, meant to provide an appeal. against landlords sitting on vacant properties for years.

But Butchart found that “petitioner (Weinstein) has failed to establish that the property has been abandoned or degraded.”

The four-story brick building at 5820-24 Germantown Ave. it’s nearly 110 years old and famous locally for integrating when the Black-only YMCA facility closed. In recent years, it has been the center of a neighborhood controversy over a redevelopment effort supported by the City Council.

The ruling did not contain an explanation for Butchart’s decision. Weinstein said he would seek a reconsideration by the court to better understand why his case was dismissed. Afterward, the developer said it was “inclined to” appeal the decision.

“Everyone who heard about this ruling is very upset and confused by it, because it’s hard to justify that the building wasn’t destroyed on October 11, 2023,” when the case was filed, Weinstein said.

The Redevelopment Authority has owned the vacant building since the 2010 collapse of the politically connected nonprofit Germantown Settlement, which left dozens of vacant properties in his wake.

In 2016, the city put the property up for auction. Ohio-based Keith B. Key (KBK) Enterprises has been selected over Weinstein and Philadelphia-based housing group Mission First.

Sale of land owned by the city it is a political processbecause the City Council must pass legislation to move municipal property. District Council members are given decision-making power over properties in their districts – the so-called advisory prerogative – and in this case to counsel Cindy Basswhich represents much of Northwest Philly.

KBK is a bass campaign donorbut what has bothered some neighbors — and rival local developers like Weinstein — is that KBK has maintained its priority for nearly a decade despite no physical progress being made despite the 2019 deadline. In 2021, the city ended its contract with the developer, but no new RFP was issued.

However, KBK insisted it was going ahead and without the support of the Council member, no one else would be able to redevelop the property anyway.

That’s where Weinstein’s Act 135 petition came in. He took advantage of the state law, created with slumlords and speculators in mind, as an innovative way to put politically crippled property back into play.

Weinstein is a prominent developer in the area, but says he doesn’t want to redevelop the YWCA himself and just wanted to fix it up.

The redevelopment authority has done some remediation and trash cleanup in response to the case, but Weinstein wants to see more done.

“By leaving a key property in the middle of Germantown vacant and in disrepair for over 20 years, the PRA has done a disservice to the people of Germantown,” Weinstein said in a statement.

The Redevelopment Authority said it could not comment, given that Weinstein is likely to continue the lawsuit.

KBK did not respond to a request for comment on their construction timeline, and Councilman Bass said he needed more time to react with Tuesday’s election in mind.

Weinstein’s allies among neighborhood lawyers were not so circumspect.

“If this property is not blighted, I don’t know what property could be considered blighted,” said Yvonne Haskins, a neighborhood activist who has long been critical of the zoning process around the YWCA. “Is there a different standard because its public ownership? No government should be allowed to cause misery.”