18 Months of Reconstruction Await Mt. Pleasant Building

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YESTERDAY, blogger Prince of Petworth posted a picture of the remains of 3145 Mt. Pleasant St. NW, the apartment building gutted by a five-alarm blaze on March 13, and asked how long it would be before tenants could move back in.

We brought the question to the office of D.C. Council member Jim Graham.

Ted Loza, Graham's chief of staff, said that according to Mike Rupert of the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, the permits necessary to go forward with reconstruction have not been issued due to a hold up between the building owner and insurance companies.

Once those permits are issued it'll likely be a year to 18 months before residents can return.

Rupert said that when rebuilding does finally occur, officials anticipate that the less damaged south side of the building will be habitable sooner than the north side.

According to Loza, the reconstruction timeline, were it to start soon, would line up with Mayor Adrian Fenty's pledge to provide subsidies for the building's 200 displaced residents for up to two years.