Last month, we sat through an exhausting ZBA hearing for 1601 Washington Ave. which didn’t end until 9pm. This project will involve the construction of a five-story building with ground floor commercial and thirty-five apartments. We told you all about it back in August after the developers presented to SOSNA. This proposal speaks to a bright future for Washington Avenue.

This should soon be a construction site

Back in the day, a rail line ran down the middle of Washington, with factories, mills and industrial yards lining both sides of the street. As manufacturing has left the city and we’ve decided as a society that we don’t like living on top of noxious factories, the industrial nature of Washington Avenue has changed. Now, showrooms and stores selling building materials are the most prominent presence here.

Map in 1910. Washington Ave. from 19th St. to 22nd St.

But change is on the horizon, and not just due to the development we mentioned above. Retail that targets non-contractors is starting to make inroads on Washington Avenue. A cross-fit gym opened on the 1900 block a few months ago. Kermit’s is doing great things on the corner of 22nd & Washington, with a relocated Springfield Beer reopening soon next door. And don’t forget NextFab Studios, which will turn one in just a couple of months. Yes, as the Graduate Hospital neighborhood has developed and Point Breeze continues to see plenty of new construction and rehabs, the thought that Washington Avenue should be home to mixed-use development has gained a good deal of traction. Which is why we were ever so upset when we saw a zoning notice at the long-vacant 2300 Washington Ave.

2300 Washington Ave.

According to the application, the owners are seeking to combine the lots pictured above and to construct a moving and storage facility on this site that will be over sixty feet tall. We don’t know who the operator will be, but think of something along the lines of Pods. From what we can tell, this use is permitted on this lot, which is currently zoned for industrial use, which means there probably isn’t anything anybody can do about it. It’s a real shame, because as 1601 Washington promises to represent a step toward the future for Washington Ave., this is a decidedly backward-looking proposal.

Hopefully, the Planning Commission, in its remapping efforts associated with the new zoning code, will recognize the changing landscape on Washington Avenue and will remap the entire stretch to allow mixed-use by right. If that happens, it’s possible that this will be the last development of its kind on Washington, and we can look forward to plenty more proposals that bring retail, pedestrians, walkability, and life to Washington Avenue.

And maybe we won’t have to worry quite so much about getting run over by a forklift.