Developers have gone back to the drawing board and now they're giving it another shot at 2011 Amber St. in East Kensington. A few months back, we told you about a two-pronged plan for this property to 1) convert a structure that looks like it was once an auto garage into artist studios, and 2) build seven homes on Martha Street. The project was continued from the ZBA three times before the developers withdrew their application. We still don't know why, but we'd assume it was due to neighborhood opposition.
This week, the developers will try again at the ZBA with a revised plan. The new application calls for a three-story addition to the existing building with twelve apartments on the upper floors and it also mentions a plan for a first-floor restaurant. Instead of seven homes on Martha Street, this plan calls for eight homes, two of which will have parking. There will be another eleven parking spots, which we assume will be shared by the homes and the apartments. After over a year of delays, we're cautiously optimistic that this plan will finally get heard and approved by the ZBA. And assuming it does get approval, it will have some company across the street.
We told you in the fall about a property across the street being converted into eighteen apartments and a vacant commercial space, and it looks like the end is in sight for that project. Next door, framing is underway for the Amber on Amber project, a rental project with an Airbnb feature from Postgreen. Considering all three projects together, they'll add 48 units to this small area- good thing there's an El stop just a block away.