Back in May, we told you that we were hearing rumors about the construction of a large, mixed-use development on the northwest corner of 16th & Washington. Details at the time were fuzzy, but we were optimistic that this development was indeed going to happen. Earlier this week at the SOSNA zoning meeting, we finally got some concrete information when the developer gave an information-only presentation.

The site

Initially, we weren’t sure whether this project would include only the parking lot on this corner, or whether it would also encompass the grocery store to the north. It turns out, the project footprint only includes about half of the parking lot, and the grocery store will be unaffected. An aerial view of the site gives a pretty good idea about what land will be developed.

View from above. It's the lighter corner of the parking lot.

Site plan shows a triangular parcel

The proposal is for a five story building that includes first floor retail and thirty-five apartments on floors two through five. The building height is 72′, about twice the size of the average three-story row home. But if there’s anywhere in this area that so much height is appropriate, it’s Washington Avenue. RHC Design LLC did the architecture work, and here are some elevations drawings:

First floor retail on Washington

And 16th

Some balconies on the north

And the west side as well

As you can see in the site plan above, the plan calls for twenty parking spaces in a lot behind the building. On the subject of parking, nobody at the meeting seemed to concerned that the building residents wouldn’t have space to park, but there was some concern that the grocery store, which gets quite busy on weekends, will lose more than half of their parking lot. And while we can appreciate the fact that this would put pressure on street parking for residents during certain times of the week, that wouldn’t be a reason to nix the project, in our estimation.

As we’ve said consistently over the years, Washington Avenue represents a huge development opportunity in the years to come. While smaller businesses in the non-contractor world have begun to take advantage of Washington Avenue as of late, there is still so much untapped potential for larger-scale higher-impact development. And to us, it will be the presence of residents on Washington Avenue that will allow it to take the next step. Who knows, if this project is successful, perhaps it will even be enough to get the wheels turning to develop the embarrassing lots at Broad & Washington.

Ah, it’s nice to dream on a Friday.