Douglas Development sitting on 5 million square feet of vacant space

You know how you walk around DC and see all of those "Douglas Development" signs in empty retail windows?  If you think you're seeing a whole lot of that, and that Douglas must be sitting on a great deal of vacant properties, you're quite right.  But it's probably worse than you think.

According to a recent tweet from WCP's Housing Complex reporter Lydia DePillis, 50% of the square footage owned by Douglas is vacant.  This amounts to over 5 million square feet of empty space.  To make matters worse for the city, Douglas is failing to pay property taxes on much of its vacant portfolio.

This news came up in a discussion at last night's ANC2C meeting, where two new potential Douglas projects were discussed, both in the Mount Vernon Square neighborhood near 6th and New York:  a 200 unit apartment building, and a massive 300,000 sf office building with ground level retail.  One of the reasons Douglas executive Paull Millstein was before the ANC last night was to request relief on the "blighted" designation of one of their Mount Vernon Square properties, which under the District's blighted property tax rate would cost Douglas $92,000.

According to Millstein, Douglas could incur costs of up to $30,000 to renovate the property to the point where it was no longer blighted, but with redevelopment of the parcel "imminent," he was requesting an exemption altogether.  Millstein argued that the lack of development on the site was a result of the ongoing economic turmoil, and thus Douglas shouldn't be faulted for that.  The ANC agreed, voting 2 to 1 to support a one year tax relief for the site.

That's fine and dandy, but with 5 million square feet of vacant space spread throughout the city, I would not hold my breath for either of these developments to break ground anytime soon--in spite of assurances from Millstein that they will.  And Mount Vernon Square residents will be forced to contend with a blighted property for at least another year, while the District continues to fail to collect on unpaid property taxes from properties among Douglas's holdings.

The wheels on the bus go round and round...

How to Clean a Lot

A couple of weeks ago, I put up a post about the decrepit state of a vacant lot at 14th and R streets, noting the tremendous amount of trash, debris and rats that had been allowed to accumulate there.

I was contacted by Christine Noel Kidwell, the Ward 2 Outreach & Service Specialist from the Office of the Mayor, who indicated that she would make arrangements to have the lot cleaned "soon". Lo and behold, as I am walking by the vacant lot yesterday evening, I spot this:



Those that subscribe to the "broken windows" theory of crime reduction should be pleased by this; as for me, I'm simply happy that such a neighborhood eyesore has been cleaned up. Now, how long it will stay that way is another matter, but many thanks to Ms. Kidwell and her team for being so responsive.

ANC2F Notes: Contentious Liquor License for Estadio; Church to Lose Tax Break?

A bit late on the follow-up to last week's ANC2F meeting, I know, but better late than never I suppose. The most contentious issue of the evening dealt with the liquor license for the forthcoming Estadio at the corner of 14th and Church Streets. Estadio, you may recall, is the new restaurant from the team at Penn Quarter wine bar Proof.























Surprisingly (or not), the residents of the building in which Estadio will be located are not thrilled with the idea of a liquor-serving establishment opening beneath them--and they came to the ANC meeting to make this point. Now, I can understand the concern--this is, after all, the former location of the Garden District, which is about as benign a neighbor as you are going to find. So it's understandable that concerned residents would want to ensure that a strong voluntary agreement is put into place to address issues such as noise, operating hours, trash removal and so forth.

However, the aim of the residents was, apparently, to see to it that the ANC not "grant" the license to Estadio. Never mind that the ANC has no liquor license-granting authority. In the end, the issue was resolved in the way these issues typically are--both parties agreed to sign a voluntary agreement that will be negotiated by the ANC. So, wine lovers, never fear...Estadio will be coming. And residents of the neighborhood, plan to enjoy what will most likely be a fabulous establishment opening up near you, and be thankful that we've got paying tenants willing to lease all of this commercial space in this market.



Also on the docket was a liquor license for local chocolate confection purveyors ACKC. The ACKC team plans to introduce wine tastings and similar fare to their location near 14th and Q streets. The ANC also agreed to enter into a voluntary agreement with ACKC; hopefully amaretto-infused hot cocoa is on the way. Mmmmmm.....

Finally, we've received some inquiries regarding the status of the Vermont Avenue Baptist Church property issue; specifically, the revocation of the church's vacant property tax exemption status for the property they hold at Vermont and Q streets. The Church has owned the property for some time, and throughout that time the property has been a dilapidated eyesore. The District has a way of incentivizing owners of blighted properties to either improve the property or sell--the vacant property tax rate.

Basically, if your property gets hit with this tax rate--which is $10 per $100 of assessed value, or 10%--it's bad news for you, because you're going to be paying a lot of money to keep your property in crummy condition. The Vermont Avenue Baptist Church had received a vacant property tax rate exemption for its Q and Vermont property because, it claims, it had started work on rehabbing the structure. However, the Church has run into some economic difficulties, and thus renovating the property has been placed on the back burner. Which brought us to last Wednesday's meeting.

At the meeting, the ANC voted to send a letter to Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) withdrawing its support for the continuation of the vacant property tax exemption for the Church. This now places the matter in the hands of DCRA, which will need to determine whether the Church has met the criteria to obtain the exemption for another year, or whether it has forfeited it.

Without the ANC's support, the Church faces an uphill battle in maintaining its exemption. Then again, a certain church in nearby Shaw has managed to avoid the vacant property designation for numerous properties it owns, so maybe the guiding hand of the Lord will steer DCRA towards a favorable decision for the VABC.