- 1206 H St. The Olympic. Application already submitted. Old
school neighborhood sports bar with full bar menu. An Englert establishment.- 1210 H St. The Showbar. Application already submitted. Occasional
live entertainment. An Englert establishment.**- 1212 H St. The Red and the Black. Live music on 2nd floor. Bar on first floor. New Orleans style place. Capacity 120. An Englert establishment.
*- 1224 H St. The Beehive. Mexan food and grilled
burritos. Summer garden inback. Capacity about 69. Some residential or office on second floor. Jukebox. An Englert establishment.*- 1234 H St. name? Would sell chips and snack items. Capacity 79 or 89. Few booths. Pool table. Jukebox or prerecorded music. Beer with classic drinks. Mostly bottled beers and drinks like martinis. Applicant is actually a partner or friend of Mr. Englert's.
- 1236 H St. The Martini Lounge, at Martinis and other drinks. Two floors,with lounge downstairs and dance floor upstairs. Bar and lounge, serving American cuisine, with dance floor, live jazz band, DJ, for R&B Music, Hand Dancing, Salsa and Karaoke. Not a Joe Englert establishment, but this is also in the pipeline.
*- 1353 H St. The Rock and Roll Hotel. 7,000 square foot area. Capacity 349.Two levels. First level: 40s and 50s style grand hotel with big chandeliers. Bar would be like in a Hollywood movie. Upstairs: 12 separate rooms people could rent out for evening parties. Would feature heavy appetizers served as room service (with tray and cover). Would feature a lot of draft beers/microbreweries. An Englert establishment.
Stars indicate new applications. Votes have already been held regarding the applications of the other businesses. I had heard rumors about Joe Englert buying up lots of H Street properties and making big plans, but this is pretty intense. So do people welcome the hip new development and point to Joe Englert's good rep, or do they worry about Adams Morgan type noise/activity troubles?
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Proposals for New Bars/Entertainment Venues
The following bolded list comes directly from an email sent out on the ANC6A & H Street listservs:
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3 comments:
A few people have said that this guy is great and really responsive to the community but how do you really know?
I know he has made a lot of promises but talk is real cheap. I remember when some black women wanted to open a place at the current location of Phish Tea, they were asked to open their books at a ANC 6A meeting. No one has asked this charming white guy to open his. I wonder why. It seems a reasonable request in light of the large number of bars in a relatively small location. Where are you Shannon?
The fact is that Joe Englert has been opening successful bars & restaurants in the District for the past two decades. A simple Google search will produce several articles on Joe Englert and his continuing efforts to respond to the concerns of whatever neighborhood he works in. I know that this seems like a lot of applications at once, but I think that is just how he works. I was a bit surprised to see that he personally wants to open 4 bars/restaurants, but I had heard that he generally brings in (due to his connections) other businesses to really give the community a quick burst. I think some people are really jazzed about Mr. Englert because he has a demonstrated ability to get things done both quickly and right. He's as close to a sure bet as we've got, and that means a lot when you can look at the number of developers who seem to run out of steam halfway through a project. I don't really know the details on the business that wanted to open at Phish Tea's location (was this Onyx?), so I can't really comment on that situation. I would suggest that you look into Joe Englert, I think you'll find it is less about him being a white guy, and more about him having an impressive resume.
Just a few comments (well maybe not so short).
When Joe Englert appeared at the ANC 6A Alcohol Beverage and License (ABL) Committee, he did so because he wanted to. He felt it was important to discuss his applications before he filled them. I do believe he plans on filing liquor applications this week.
Assuming he files this week or next, Commissioner Beatty will request that he appear at next month’s ABL committee and discuss the specifics of the applications (May 17 at 7:00pm at Sherwood Recreation Center). Our Commission has developed a very detailed and extensive voluntary agreement for nightclubs, taverns and restaurants (which can be on our web site) – that cover noise, litter, sidewalk maintenance, hours among a few things. While I can’t speak for the ABL committee, it would be reasonable to expect that they will ask him to sign an agreement for each of the licenses.
When Englert was applying for the Olympic and Showbar, he initially filed for a CN (nightclub). Based on the ABL committee’s concerns, he voluntarily downgraded the both applications to CT (tavern).
Note. What is the difference between nightclubs, taverns and restaurants? From DC Law, Title 25, Alcoholic Beverages
"Nightclub" (CN license) means a space in a building, and the adjoining space outside of the building, regularly used and kept open as a place that serves food and alcoholic beverages and provides music and facilities for dancing.
"Tavern" (CT license) means a space in a building which: (A) Is regularly used and kept open as a place where food and alcoholic beverages are served; (B) May offer entertainment, except nude performances, and may allow dancing for its patrons only; and (C) Does not provide facilities for dancing for its employees or entertainers.
A tavern license (CT) shall be issued only for a tavern. The size of the dance floor in a tavern shall not exceed 140 square feet; provided, that the licensee whose establishment on September 30, 1986 contained a regularly used dance floor in excess of 140 square feet and who is occupying the same establishment shall not be disqualified under this limitation.
"Restaurant" (CR license) means a space in a building which: (A) Is regularly used and kept open as a place where food is served; (B) Keeps its kitchen facilities open until 2 hours before closing and for which sales of food accounts for at least 45% of the establishment's gross annual receipts; and (C) May offer entertainment, except nude performances, and facilities for dancing.
A restaurant license (CR) shall be issued only for a restaurant. The licensee shall file with the Board quarterly statements, on the dates and in the manner prescribed by the Board, reporting for the preceding quarter: the gross receipts for the establishment; its gross receipts for sales of alcoholic beverages; its gross receipts for the sale of food; its total expenses for the purchase of food and alcoholic beverages; its expenses for the purchase of food; and its expenses for the purchase of alcoholic beverages. The Board shall make a licensee’s quarterly statements available for the purpose of allowing a protestant of a license to determine the gross annual receipts of a licensee.
I anticipate one of the questions folks will ask Englert is whether or not any of these proposed tavern applications can be downgraded to restaurant applications. On face value, that seems like a reasonable request. But, given the above restrictions, and that you can lose your license if you don’t hit 45% of gross receipts, this request needs to be put in the proper economic context. The real question is: Will our community support a restaurant (meaning dining) that has a liquor license? And finally, this is not an easy request because it requires a more robust investment to have a larger kitchen than one might have with just a tavern.
That being said, I do plan on working with Englert to see if we can’t convince him to change some of the planned taverns to restaurants. Maybe the ideal situation is one restaurant for every tavern. Like I said, it is an easy request; but then it is not my money on the line. Englert prefers taverns – his version of a tavern has a very robust menu – to avoid situation of having to hit food targets.
Also keep in mind that none of these establishments fall in my single member district. I have the south side of H Street between 8th and 13th. All of the Englert establishment currently fall in Robyn Holden’s (north side of H Street from 7th to 13th) or Marc Borbely’s (south and north side of H Street from 13th to 15th) single member districts. But all of these applications fall in ANC 6A.
In close, I am a relative new comer to H street issues. But I have been working on zoning and development on H Street for close to three years on behalf of our ANC. While I have to wait for all the facts, I am very happy that someone of Englert’s reputation is willing to take a risk. I hope to see you all at the next ABL meeting on May 17th to hear the facts first hand.
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