Willco Residential has received approval from the D.C. Board of Zoning Adjustment to convert a former laundromat on 15th St SE into a 6-unit condo.
PGN Architects is designing the revamp, which entails building a three-story addition atop the existing one-story laundromat to bring the building to a total of 50 feet and six condos, a mix of one- and two-bedrooms.
"We [wanted] to preserve a unique structure," PGN principal Jeff Goins told Elevation DC. "It's unique. We want to save the facade."
The ground floor will become one of the six condo units inside the existing laundry building, Goins says. The additional three floors will hold five more units.
At the recent BZA hearing, the developer sought approval to increase the number of units from five to six and to add eight feet to the height of the building, which would match the expected height of
a neighboring project at 1500 Pennsylvania Ave SE, according to ANC Commissioner Brian Flahaven.
City records show that the existing laundromat building was built in 1926 and remodeled in the 1980s. It was purchased by the current owner in 2010 for $400,000.
Comparable units have been selling for about half a million dollars apiece, according to Trulia.com.