An apartment building, with retail on the street level!
Okay, so no surprise there. What is somewhat of a surprise is that, after all this time, something is actually going to emerge in the space once occupied by Kitaro Sushi at 1624 N. 45th.
Kitaro burned down December 7, 2011 as we wrote about here. I’m not sure an exact cause was ever determined, but reports at the time said the fire was electrical in nature. A dentist’s office was also damaged in the blaze.
And then time passed.
In 2015, the building was emptied and boarded up.
And then more time passed.
Which brings us up to the present. The proposed project will consist of three floors of one-bedroom apartments (4 units per floor for a total of 12) and retail on the ground floor bringing the total number of floors to four — the maximum allowed in that area under current zoning. The dentist’s office on the corner, east of the new building, will remain. So this new construction will be a long and narrow box sandwiched between the dentist and Molly Moon’s.
Amenities will include a rooftop deck, covered bicycle parking and a green space in the back. No parking is required for residents or for businesses that may move in to the ground floor, and none will be constructed.
The project is currently in the design review phase. Two community meetings have already been held, and an online survey (now closed) was available a few months back. However, it’s not too late to file a public comment. These and other project documents can be found here by searching on the street address.
Thus far, a single public comment has been filed. Susan Chang writes:
I am the owner of the building located at 1616 N 45th Street, two doors west of the proposed building site. While we’re excited about the changes in our neighborhood, we are concerned about the traffic and parking situation on N 45th street and the surrounding streets, and only request that any high-density apartment/condo structures have enough parking for their residents.
