About a year and a half ago, we told you that 1200 Washington Ave. was available for sale for $1.2M and encouraged anyone and everyone to step forward and buy it. This property, which sits next door to our car wash of choice and around the corner from Nam Phuong, has been home to Nardello Fuels for a number of years. We're pretty sure that Nardello has moved to the 'burbs or at the very least will soon be out of the space, because we've learned that somebody has indeed purchased the property and will be moving forward with a by-right project here.
A post on the Washington Avenue Associates Facebook page tipped us off that the City has issued a zoning permit for the demolition of the building and the construction of a five-story project with 48 apartments, 15 parking spots, and a sizable commercial space. Remember, when we shared the listing, it came with a recommendation for a similar project, albeit with an additional level of apartments. The Facebook post also included a very simple elevations drawing of what we can expect to see built here.
This property is zoned CMX-3, and the project is being done completely by-right as we mentioned. As such, the community won't be involved in the details of the project or its design, which might mean that the design of the building will be on the uninspirational side. On the other hand, this project is fairly similar to projects that have been proposed on Washington Avenue on the other side of Broad Street but have been tied up in appeals and litigation for years. So this thing will likely get built and fairly quickly, and the projects on the other side of Broad Street could continue to languish for the foreseeable future. So… how 'bout some rezoning for Washington Avenue West?