2017 could be the year that the western side of Washington Avenue finally starts to take off. Within the last couple of months, we've seen dirt start moving at the long vacant northwest corner of Broad & Washington, in anticipation of the Lincoln Square project. Ten blocks to the west, we're now seeing some activity at 2501 Washington Ave., a property we last checked in on a couple months ago, shortly after the developers presented the project at Civic Design Review.
At the time, we traced the changes for the project over the course of the last year, detailing its evolution as SOSNA and near neighbors met repeatedly with the developer to hammer out a plan that would work well enough for everyone. The final plan includes a five-story mixed-use building at the corner of 25th & Washington with 64 apartments and a large retail space on the first floor, a pair of duplexes on Grays Ferry Avenue, and 17 townhomes in the middle of the property. The developers have named the project Graduate Square- check out these renderings, with credit to PZS Architects for the design work.
Given the depressing recent history of bold projects planned for Washington Avenue, we were hopeful that we'd quickly see signs of development here, but were resigned to the possibility that nothing would ever happen. Remarkably, it was only a couple of months before we noticed signs of progress. If you pass by the property today, you'll notice signs advertising that the units are for sale. There's a big range on the prices for these units, with a 1,400 sqft condo listed for $400K and the homes, with 2,700 sqft of living space and two-car parking, listed for $675K. The listings indicate that the homes and condos will be finished this summer and we'd be extremely jazzed to see that prediction come true.
Speaking of the condos, we can see actual progress for the duplexes that will rise on Grays Ferry Avenue. When we passed by the other day, we noticed that the lousy looking building on Grays Ferry had been demolished in preparation for the western end of the project.
With actual progress at this site, we're feeling very optimistic that this project is actually going to happen. If Graduate Square happens and Lincoln Square happens too, it could set the stage for additional development on Washington Avenue in the years to come. And wouldn't that just be swell?