For years, we’ve been ringing the bell for Washington Avenue, hoping for development west of Broad Street, where residential construction has crested to the north and is booming to the south. And we’ve seen some progress, of late. NextFab Studios opened their new location on the 2000 block, with a lovely cafe on the first floor. Kermit’s Bakeshop, from the folks at the Sidecar, is coming soon to the 2200 block. And while both of those commercial locations will increase foot traffic on Washington Avenue and shrink the perceived moat between Graduate Hospital and Point Breeze to some effect, we contend that only residential development on Washington Avenue will truly be able to bridge that gap.

And we finally might be getting just that.

Development site?

We heard a rumor yesterday that a developer (and we don’t know who) is looking into building forty apartment units with first floor retail at the northwest corner of 16th & Washington. The project would also include parking for about half the units.

Annnd that’s pretty much all we’ve heard at this point. No word on the type of retail that the developer would be looking for. Obviously, it would be better if the stores in question had some mass appeal and were not simply more shops for contractors. We don’t know about height, or underground parking, or any other specifics. But we do think that this project has legs. And if this or something like it does indeed come to pass, what a win it would be for Washington Avenue as well as the neighborhoods on either side.

And for Dunkin Donuts across the street!

We’ll be keeping our ears open on this one, and will fill y’all in on any new specifics that come to light in the coming weeks and months. Should be exciting…