A private equity investment firm that does real estate development is looking to build townhouses on the site of the former Garrett-Dunn House historic home.

The site is located, roughly, at 7048 Germantown Ave., just north of the Acme grocery store's property.

It is now owned by Iron Stone, the firm that wants to build 27 to 30 units on the site.

West Mt. Airy Neighbors (WMAN) Executive Director Lizabeth Macoretta said at a WMAN Zoning Committee meeting Wednesday that Iron Stone had contacted her to let the neighborhood association know of its plans. She said representatives aslo got in touch with Mt. Airy USA.

And Iron Stone Managing Director Andrew Eisenstein said he and others met with WMAN and Neighborhood Interfaith Movement (NIM) representatives to discuss the the matter. NIM's offices are across the street from the site.

Iron Stone has done a variety of large projects in Philadelphia, according to its Web site. It has turned a former YMCA at 1425 Arch St. in Center City into a gym and has converted a former warehouse at 45 N. 3rd St. in Old City into office space.

It is also working to redevelop the site of the Falls Center, which is on Henry Avenue in East Falls, according to its Web site.

Macoretta said Iron Stone hosted a meeting with a variety of local realtors, such as Elfant-Wissahickon, to get a sense of what types of townhomes would have the best chance of selling well in that area.

Eisenstein said its first goal was to ensure the site is safe. In order to do so, it had to remove falling and dangerous building parts on site.

That task, he said, is now complete. Now Iron Stone is on to the next step.

"We expect to finalize a plan that we think is buildable and appropriate for the neighborhood and present it at one of the upcoming WMAN neighborhood meetings," Eisenstein wrote in an email Monday.

Macoretta said the townhomes would likely have three bedrooms and would probably be placed on the market for between $350,000 and $405,000.

"It's a huge lot," Macoretta said.

According to PlanPhilly, the Garrett-Dunn House was designed in the 1850s and was on the National and Philadelphia Registers of Historic Places. It was, however, destroyed by a fire in August 2009 after a lightning storm.

Efforts had been underway to build condominiums on the site before the fire, according to PlanPhilly, before they fell through.