Waaaaay back in 2011, we asked you to take a gander at 1731 Washington Ave., a stubby industrial building that was home to a commercial window and door business. At the time, we were extremely excited to share the news that the building would get demoed and replaced by a four-story mixed-use building with ground-floor retail and 15 apartments. Remember, at that time Washington Avenue west of Broad included no residences whatsoever, and we were optimistic that this project would help ease this stretch into a transition away from industrial and toward mixed-use.

Alas, not so much. Years passed, and a whole lot of nothing happened here. Finally, in 2017, we told you that the old industrial building was finally coming down and we figured that this project was finally moving forward. But we were wrong again! Several additional years rolled by and the property sat vacant.

But wait! What’s that we see? Steel!

Well well well, this thing is finally moving forward. Plans have changed slightly, as the project will now entail 18 apartments and 20 parking spots, most of which will live in the basement. On the first floor, look for a 4700 sqft restaurant space with frontage on Washington Avenue. This restaurant will join Chick’s, a bar/restaurant located just a few steps away to the west.

When we covered this property back in 2011, Washington Avenue felt like it was on the cusp of a sea change. The Graduate Hospital neighborhood had seen significant development activity in the preceding years, and developers were increasingly eyeing Point Breeze for new projects. It seemed only logical that the light industrial uses that had dominated Washington Avenue for years would phase out, with mixed-use development like this taking over.

Over the last dozen years, things have certainly evolved on Washington Avenue, but not quite as quickly as we expected. We’ve seen a few hundred new units and a bunch of new businesses appear on the corridor, with new buildings rising at Broad Street, 22nd Street, and 25th Street. Additional projects are currently under construction at 21st and 24th Streets. While these projects collectively represent positive steps for Washington Avenue, the street still feels more industrial than it could or should.

Part of the issue is the fact that Washington Avenue remains a wide road with limited traffic calming measures. You may recall, opportunities to make the corridor safer flopped back in 2022. Perhaps more significant, Washington Avenue remains zoned for industrial use, and any mixed-use development requires a zoning variance. Even if a developer is fortunate enough to get a variance, said variance could get appealed, delaying a project for years or potentially resulting in the revocation of a zoning permit if a judge doesn’t like the project. With all this uncertainty, developers are understandably cautious about developing on Washington Avenue – hence the relative trickle of projects.

We’ve said it for years, we’d love it if Washington Avenue were remapped to allow for mixed-use development as a matter of right. We would posit that if such a thing were to occur, even if it included certain affordability requirements, parking requirements, setback requirements, etc., we’d see almost every property turn over on Washington Avenue and a new and exciting mixed-use corridor take shape. Sadly, we don’t imagine this will happen any time soon. But we can dream. If this project can finally move forward a dozen years after we first covered it, anything feels possible.