The future home of Jimmy Valentine's
The City Paper glances at the story of the small tavern (Jimmy Valentine's Lonely Heart's Club) opening on Bladensburg Road and the drama surrounding a recently lodged protest letter. The window for the protestors (who have standing as a group of 5) to refile is still open and it seems likely that they will file a valid protest. However, the reasons currently given for the protest (peace and safety of the neighborhood -we're talking about a 49 person tavern with no dancefloor, jukebox, cigarette machine, or live music) are likely not legally sufficent for the protestors to win, but the protest could still delay the opening of the bar.
10 comments:
The article indicates that the person opening the bar previously reached a voluntary agreement with the ANC; but it also indicates that the protest is supported by the ANC Commissioner for the SMD covering the location. That's interesting.
The whole thing was very dramatic at the last two ANC meetings. To my eyes it played itself out as more of a personal disagreement rather than a valid concern for the neighborhood.
The ANC as a whole entered into a voluntary agreement with Mr. Thorp. The individual ANC (5B10) rep, India Henderson (daughter of former Commissioner Kathy Henderson), objects to he business in her personal capacity. She was not present for the vote at the ANC (once because her mother marched her, India is 19, out of a meeting so there would not be a quorum, and once because India did not arrive until 15 minutes after the meeting's official end time). Commissioner Handerson sought to enter into a seperate voluntary agreement with Mr. Thorp under which (I'm told) his liquor license would be automatically suspended if any three incidents occurred either inside his tavern, or outside on Bladensburg Road (I don't know the proximity requirement, but I don't think there was a causation requirement) within a specified period (either 30, or 45 days). This was the primary sticking point for that agreement.
I should also mention that the bar sits just on the boundary line (Bladensburg Road splits them) of two SMDs, and very close to another.
Two more points:
1. I'm the Commissioner for the SMD right across the street
2. the voluntary agreement advocated by former Commissioner Kathy Henderson (Kathy Henderson, India's mother, is also one of the 5 protestors)was something spoken of at an SMD meeting, but never presented to Mr. Thorp in writing.
Does Mr. Thorp own the building as well? One aspect of this that we haven't discussed is the viability of the business.
I may be wrong but I don't get the sense that the bars on H are making money hand over fist. So a bar in that same vein...seems like it would have an uphill climb business-wise.
That could be mitigated by him owning the building or having negotiated a cheap, multi-year lease. After thinking about this I think one of the parts of Englert's business plan must be flipping the buildings themselves...renovating the building, creating a successful business, then selling at a profit to get cash flow for the other ventures. The same thing might work for Mr. Thorp.
He does own the building. He also lives a block away from the tavern, and I don't get the idea he's looking to unload the business anytime soon after it opens (it seems like a longterm investment).
Yeah, I see the selling quickly as more an option when you have a portfolio of business like in Englert's case. But the owning the building...that seems key whether you own one or many. You could potentially get more return from the real estate eventually than from the business.
On this topic I wonder if the owner of the Rib Tip decided the restaurant business really wasn't for him and now will sell the building and retire.
....and actually by selling businesses to get cash to fuel more of them you can be said to be benefiting the n'hood. Just as risk is reduced for an investor by holding a portfolio of assets, here the n'hood has a "portfolio of property owners", lowering the risk to the n'hood if one should go under. Joe Englert's quite a guy.
Joe Englert was never the full owner of any of the places on H Street, so you've alsways had that spreading around.
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