Zoning Hearing BoardMonday, October 19, 2026, 6:30 p.m.Borough Hall
Conshohocken's zoning board will hear a request Monday to extend the variances for a six-story riverfront office over a 960-space garage
The Millennium IV owner wants until September 2027 to get permits for a 216,400-square-foot office over a 960-space garage on the Schuylkill.
| Building A, gross floor area | Garage spaces | Variances | Requested expiration |
|---|---|---|---|
| 216,400sq ft, six-story office | 960four-story podium garage | 6granted Sept. 22, 2025 | Sept. 22, 2027one more year |
Zoning relief granted, September 22, 2025
The board allowed 140 feet where the code caps a building this far from a rail station at 85
- Height, 140 feet. The code allows up to 230 feet by conditional use within 2,000 feet of a SEPTA rail station and caps a building farther away at 85 feet.
- Impervious coverage, 79%. The ordinance limit is 70% of the lot.
- Separation, 17.9 feet. The code sets a 30-foot minimum. The fire marshal must approve the 17.9-foot separation for Building B.
- Building profile, 406 linear feet. The ordinance limit is 250 linear feet.
- Parking structure facing the river. Not permitted under section 27-1509(2)(C). Permitted by the board.
- Building in the floodplain overlay. Not permitted under section 27-1714(1). Permitted by the board.
The Conshohocken Zoning Hearing Board will take up a request on Monday, October 19, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. at Borough Hall to keep alive the variances for two office buildings planned behind the Millennium complex on the Schuylkill River. A variance is the board's permission to build outside a specific zoning limit.
The larger building, Building A, is a six-story office of 216,400 gross square feet on a four-story podium garage with 960 parking spaces, according to the borough's zoning memo in the meeting packet. The board granted six variances on September 22, 2025, on the condition that they expire after one year unless a building permit was issued. The owner, Millennium IV Land Owner LLC, has asked for one more year, to September 22, 2027.
What the owner plans to build
Two office buildings would add 304,240 gross square feet on 4.932 acres behind Millennium I, II and III
The site is five condominium parcels totaling 4.932 acres behind the Millennium I, II and III buildings on Washington Street, bounded by Ash Street on the west and Poplar Street on the east. Today it holds a surface parking lot behind Millennium I, at 20 Ash Street, and open space behind Millennium II and III. Building A would replace part of that parking lot. Building B, a three-story office on a two-story podium garage with 236 spaces, would go on the open space behind 225 and 227 Washington Street.
Proposed structures
Building A's office would sit on a four-story garage of 253,336 square feet
| Structure | Stories | Footprint (sq ft) | Gross floor area (sq ft) | Gross floor area, bar | Parking spaces |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building A office | 6 | 36,066 | 216,400 | ||
| Building A podium garage | 4 | 63,334 | 253,336 | 960 | |
| Building B office | 3 | 29,280 | 87,840 | ||
| Building B podium garage | 2 | 39,729 | Blank | 236 |
The memo also lists a row of six surface spaces at Building A. The two office buildings together come to 304,240 gross square feet. Testimony recorded in the 2025 decision says Building A is meant for a single tenant and Building B for Morgan Properties, a tenant of the adjacent buildings. The applicant also testified that Building B would be built five to ten years in the future.
The deed in the packet shows Millennium IV Land Owner LLC bought the parcels for $8.75 million in a deed effective June 8, 2022. The extension application gives a Morgan Properties email address for the applicant and the same 160 Clubhouse Road address in King of Prussia that the deed lists for Morgan Properties.
How the project compares with recent office construction
Montgomery County counted 29,115 square feet of new office space in 2025, against 216,400 for Building A alone
Building A alone would be large against what Montgomery County has completed lately. The county Planning Commission's 2025 nonresidential construction report counted 29,115 square feet of new office space countywide in 2025, all of it in East Norriton, and 21,769 square feet in 2024. It counted none in Conshohocken in 2025.
New office space, Montgomery County
Only 2019 and 2021 added more office space countywide than Building A would hold
2%Office's share of the county's new nonresidential space in 2025
Over the seven years, two years exceed Building A's 216,400: 2019, at 231,187 square feet, and 2021, at 863,932. Office made up 2% of the 1,460,398 nonresidential square feet the county counted in 2025, which institutional and industrial projects led.
The six variances
The six variances include permission to build in the floodplain overlay
The 2025 decision lists six departures from the borough zoning code. The site sits in the SP-2 Specially Planned District 2 and in the Floodplain Conservation Overlay District, which prohibits new buildings, fill, clearing, driveways, parking lots and stormwater basins without relief.
Decision and Order, Appeal No. Z-2025-05
Each of the six standards, with the limit in the code and what the board granted in 2025
| Note | Standard | Ordinance section | Ordinance limit | Granted in 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building height | 27-1503(3)(C) | 85 feet more than 2,000 feet from a SEPTA rail station | 140 feet |
| 2 | Impervious coverage | 27-1504(F)(2) | 70% of the lot | 79% |
| 3 | Separation between buildings | 27-1505(B)(3) | 30 feet minimum | 17.9 feet |
| 4 | Building profile | 27-1509(2) | 250 linear feet | 406 linear feet |
| 5 | Parking structure facing the river | 27-1509(2)(C) | Not permitted | Permitted |
| 6 | Building in the floodplain overlay | 27-1714(1) | Not permitted | Permitted |
The height limit depends on distance from a rail station. The decision says the code allows up to 230 feet by conditional use within 2,000 feet of a SEPTA rail station, and caps a building farther away at 85 feet. The board found the site has unusual physical conditions that create a hardship and attached one condition: the fire marshal must approve the 17.9-foot separation for Building B.
Why the extension is needed
The one-year limit on the 2025 relief arrived September 22, 2026, before any building permit
Section 27-613 of the zoning code says a variance expires if the applicant does not obtain all required permits within one year. The borough's zoning memo, by Allison A. Lee, PE, dated October 1, 2026, sets out the order of approvals before permits can be issued.
Steps in the Millennium IV zoning case
The owner asked for the extension on September 3, 2026, before the relief ran out on September 22
- Borough CouncilConditional use approvalA separate permission that council decides after a hearing.
- Borough and county planning commissionsLand development reviewThe commissions make recommendations.
- Borough CouncilLand development approvalCouncil grants preliminary and final approval.
- OwnerPermit applicationsThe owner then applies for permits.
Borough Council must first grant conditional use approval, a separate permission that council decides after a hearing. Then comes land development review, with recommendations from the borough and county planning commissions, followed by preliminary and final approval by council. The owner then applies for permits.
The owner's attorney wrote on September 2, 2026 that the project "remains in the process of finalizing its conditional use approval and land development applications." The borough received the request on September 3, before the original relief ran out. The application came with a $500 fee and a $1,500 escrow deposit.
What this means for contractors bidding commercial work
Conditional use and land development come next, and both appear on public agendas
If the board grants the extension, the variances stay valid while the owner goes through conditional use and land development, and construction still waits on permits. Borough Council and the Planning Commission post their agendas as PDFs on the borough's meetings page. Check them for a Millennium IV conditional use hearing or land development application, since those are the next public steps the zoning memo names.
The relief covers site clearing, filling and placement inside the floodplain overlay, according to the 2025 decision. Any firm working in the borough registers with Conshohocken first.
- Commercial registration fee
- $90
- Bodily injury coverage, at least
- $100,000 to $300,000
- Certificate holder
- The borough
From the borough's commercial contractor registration form, checked October 18, 2026.
The commercial registration form lists a $90 fee and a certificate of insurance naming the borough as holder, with at least $100,000 to $300,000 of bodily injury coverage. The contractor registration guide covers the borough and nearby townships, and the local market data guide tracks county permits and jobs.
Caveats
The board has not decided, and the plans may change
The extension has not been decided, and the board can grant, deny or attach conditions. The building sizes come from the borough's memo and may change. The applicant testified in 2025 that the plans were still subject to change within the limits of the relief granted. The memo describes a 5-foot sidewalk to the river trail, while the 2025 decision records testimony about a 10-foot sidewalk. For the two-story Building B garage, the memo gives a gross floor area of four times the footprint, which could not be verified against its height, so the table leaves that figure blank.
The county's office figures come from assessment records. They count net leasable floor space, while the borough memo gives gross floor area, which includes common areas, so the comparison is approximate. The county assigns a year when a property is first assessed, often months after completion, and revises earlier years as records come in. No construction cost estimate appears in the packet.
The data
Office and total nonresidential square feet completed in Montgomery County, 2019 to 2025
| Year | Office (sq ft) | All nonresidential (sq ft) |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 231,187 | 1,786,199 |
| 2020 | 57,582 | 2,060,664 |
| 2021 | 863,932 | 2,259,069 |
| 2022 | 40,268 | 2,855,338 |
| 2023 | 4,250 | 1,914,946 |
| 2024 | 21,769 | 1,052,512 |
| 2025 | 29,115 | 1,460,398 |