Sketchy

I've been walking by 1618 14th Street almost daily for four years now. At first I just wrote it off as a low rent property that just looked bad. The more I think about it though, the more it gives me the heebie jeebies.

It turns out that this building is a "private adult venue." Every once in a while, I've seen men leaving from the front door at various times of day. The use code in the property tax records is "Store-Misc," and the proposed assessed value for 2008 is $813,560. Yet, the taxable assessment is $0. The owner, Stephen Jaffe, lives in a super swank part of Potomac, MD. (The address is in between Democracy Blvd. and River Rd., if you're familiar with the area.)

Over the summer of 2005 a second floor fire broke out. Since then, the second floor windows have been covered with black plastic, likely garbage bags. It adds a nice ambience, especially considering that the shades on the first floor are always pulled. There have been no signs of renovation since the fire — no permits, no delivery of construction materials, no activity around the building. It does appear from a simple Google search that the owner did get a payout from disaster recovery consulting firm. Metro Weekly gave the facility a little press after the 2005 fire. From what little they could dig up on the business, it appears that openly advertised fee-for-admission sex parties are held in the building.

The small back yard was trashed both before and after the fire. For a while you could see right into the garbage heap. Later black plastic was used to block the view, and now a piece of drywall leans against the gate. From what I've seen it looks like the yard could be a rats' nest. A concern after the fire was that there is no apparent means of egress from the back of the building; it seems that there has been no improvement on that safety issue.

Bleh. I'd just as soon not have this business in our neighborhood. The safety and cleanliness of the building are suspect, and the owner may or may not be paying proper taxes. I'd also like to see the building itself cleaned up a little. It's just depressing looking to walk by.