The Historic Preservation Review Board at its July 9 meeting approved with conditions the request to expand and convert a one-story commercial building at 3054 Mount Pleasant St NW into an apartment building with ground-floor retail. The existing one-story building dating from 1920 is home to the Mount Pleasant Auto Repair, formerly a gas station.
The HPRB reviewed a different proposal for this space in 2003, which was withdrawn, but at the time, the historic preservation office wrote that the gas station "appears to be a quite intact example of an early gas station, the only commercial building of its kind in the historic district. For that reason, it should be considered not only a structure contributing to the character of the district, but also at least as historically significant as most individual houses or commercial buildings in the district."
Property owner Vasili Katopothis submitted a concept plan for a four-story addition behind and on top of the building, and the enclosure of most of the under-canopy area in the front of the building. The HPRB recommended approving just three stories behind and two stories atop the existing building.