Commuters along Buckner may have noticed some recent tree clearing work at the northwest corner of the Buckner/Red Powell intersection — work that is being done to pave the way for a new commercial development.
Land owners Dan Schmidt and Lara Clark, a father and daughter business tandem, recently confirmed that work is set to prepare the site for a new laundromat. With more development and planning with the city needed, the opening is still a ways off — likely a couple of years, according to Schmidt.
Schmidt and Clark have owned Derby Laundry (616 N. Baltimore Ave.) for a couple of years now and saw the need for more services, which is why development of the new site was pursued.
“We’re not doing a big development or any crazy thing, we’re just putting in a laundromat, trying to help the community. It gets really busy in our smaller one,” Schmidt said. “Derby is entitled to a bigger, second laundromat there in town, so…we’re working on it.”
“It’ll just be a self-service laundromat, just a little bit bigger, that way it’s more accommodating for people as they come in,” Clark added.
Though the owners don’t know yet exactly how many washers/dryers will be added, the plan is for the new laundromat to be roughly double the size to be able to help more customers at once.
Drainage and access issues still need to be worked out with the city, with a zone change and site plan also needing to be approved before opening.
