New Apartment Building on Washington Gets Approval from Zoning Board

A large new apartment building is about to be built at the intersection of 24^th Street and Washington Avenue, on what is now a vacant lot with a large billboard on it.  This new building received approval from the Zoning Board of Adjustment on June 3^rd.  It is being developed by Green Construction and designed by prolific architectural firm, Harman Deutsch.  It promises to remake an old industrial corridor that has a lot of vacancy and blight, but is gradually changing with new retail and workspaces for creative businesses.

The building will be five stories tall and have 113 rental units.  There will be 57 parking spaces on part of the ground level.  The site has an irregular shape, so the building will have a wing stretching behind a couple small businesses on Washington Avenue.  Much of the ground level will have retail spaces facing both Washington Avenue and 24^th Street.  Above the ground level in front will be a second floor courtyard.  The developers are including a public pocket park and will have a dog park for the building’s residents along the northern façade, behind homes on Kimball Street.  There will be a small two-story portion of the building on 24^th Street, next to rowhomes of a similar height.  The building will, also, have bike parking underground and bike racks outside.  The parking entry and exit lanes will be routed so as to direct traffic away from residential areas on 24^th Street.

The project has received support from the Washington Avenue Business Association, the South of South Neighbors Association, and the City Planning Commission.  The Zoning Board voted to grant the developers a use variance to allow residential development on a site zoned for industrial use.  The City Planning Commission is studying the idea of changing the zoning for much of Washington Avenue to residential and commercial, since demand by industry is not strong along Washington Avenue anymore.  The developers would like to begin construction before the end of this year.

By, Gabriel Gottlieb