Checkers in 2008 after an SUV drove into it. Photo by cekrypton2
Found out today that a neighborhood staple has been sold! Could not come soon enough. See ya Checkers!
— Scott Magnuson (@ScottRMag) November 7, 2013
That's Scott from the Argonaut (1433 H Street), and he went on to report that he heard that the land had sold for $4 million, & would eventually host condos.
29 comments:
This is fantastic news. No more obese Marylanders idling their gas guzzling bohemoths 24/7 waiting for their garbage fast food fix before rolling onto 295. Because we all know there's no fast food near Laurel or Bowie or wherever. Anyway, hurrah!!
I always liked the food there. Although it was kind of *scary*. You know the people....and constant threat of a car driving into you....
Wow, I never thought I'd see the day! Good riddance! Lots of great news for H St this week. I bet that row of houses on G St is the most excited out of anyone! Their property value just shot way up.
Well if it has sold, it has not hit land records yet. There are a couple of lis pendens that were recorded against the property by tax lien certificate purchasers so those will need to be resolved.
In addition, the prudent buyer would know that the site was previously owned by Shell Oil Company and had a series of filling stations on it from at least 1928 - 1994. The buyer will probably want to do an extensive subsurface investigation before closing to determine whether there is soil contamination and/or underground storage tanks. If there is no evidence of drilling on the site, I would question whether it is actually a done deal yet.
It would also be interesting to know when the Checkers lease expires. Typically these places have long term leases with renewal options but maybe they are expiring. It would be surprising to me if the tenant didn't attempt to purchase it. Looking at fire insurance maps I see that the Checkers was constructed sometime between 1994 and 1998. Maybe it was a 20 year lease and is expiring in 2014 but that is speculation....
uhh... I like Checkers, I eat there all the time. I am neither obese nor commuting from Maryland.
Also, yeah, I drive over there and use the drive through because I own a car and don't have time to leisurely stroll around on my lunch break when I work from home.
There are plenty of empty and dilapidated buildings to fill in. I don't know why you guys have so much hate for a functioning restaurant that takes care of their property and makes some pretty good burgers.
Some of you really need to get over your elitist mentality or whatever is wrong with you. You're just embarrassing yourselves.
There is no reason a Checkers can't go in to the ground floor of one of the many buildings being built nearby, if demand is that strong (I doubt it is). No more drive thrus though!
And yes, isn't this what the H. St. Yuppies/Want and need. Another f*ckin condo development?! I'm sure they can plan for the day when H. St. is Georgetown, homogenous and filled with Whole Foods and Burberry. I've lived in DC since 1996 and never had a problem with that Checkers. I get ultra-annoyed by the people who describe the folks who patronize it as 'scary'. Just latent bigotry and a push of the clock which says, "When are these people moving out so I can feel comfortable when all my neighbors look like me.
I just bought a condo in Eckington. There's a men's shelter right around the corner from my house. Those residents and the workers are a part of the tapestry of my neighborhood and they were there long before I arrived. They belong to the neighborhood as much, or more, than I do. The lack of basic respect for the true citizens of this city is always wanting. Some of the comments on this thread are no different. The gentrifiers without perspective disgust me.
12:43,
I can 100% guarantee that the "*scary*" comment came from the regular troll. He trots that one out whenever possible. He's not very creative.
I can't wait for another overpriced condo building filled with underworked and overpaid millenials. I will then be competing with these same vapid millenials to get a beer at the Pug. Gentrification celebration! Cool story, brah.
I gotta admit it is sort of crazy to see all the gentry whipping themselves into a froth over this news on twitter. I welcome its departure because I never had much use for it but I can't understand the outright loathing for something as banal as a fast food joint.
Because my wife may read this, I find the bacon cheeseburger and the fries there truly disgusting. I would never eat there. Never ever ever. Damn it.
I almost got stabbed with a screwdriver in that Checkers. good times. good times.
I almost stabbed some yuppie with a screwdriver at that checkers once; it didn't penetrate because it was just a ghetto flathead. I have since upgraded to a Wiha torx head. I am ready to rock and roll.
My GF took a look at what was
getting served and she said
we were never to eat there.
I may have a burger before they leave but,
i think Pete's Breakfast is likely to be better
that is the lousiest haiku I have ever read. Get it together, Tyrone.
Actually H St LL, there is a reason that a Checkers can not go into the ground floor of one of the new condo buildings: Fast food restaurants are prohibited within the H Street Overlay zone.
The government is about to save TonyT from himself by banning all transfats so his wife need not worry about his affection for bacon cheeseburgers.
Anon @ Nov 7, 2013, 8:10:00 AM is obviously over the line, over-generalizing, & pretty offensive. However, as someone who lives on G St. I'm happy to see the place go. In two blocks in either direction of Checkers you can always find wrappers and chicken wings littered on the ground. It's a constant battle when walking my dog to pry the chicken bones out of her mouth. In the winter time when leaves are off the trees you can hear the drive through speakers from a block away through double pane glass and Checkers is open late. I don't blame anyone for eating there; their fries are delicious and I view it as being many notches above McD's. If apartments do go in I'm sure parking will become more competitive, but that's a tradeoff I'm willing to take.
When has Checkers ever sold chicken wings?
Outlaw bacon and only outlaws will have bacon. Donning black hat now...
Kavakos - good point, but I thought that was only on H Street itself?
Having lived in the neighborhood for 8 years, I much prefer Checkers to another massive condo building with Lululemon, Starbucks and Pinkberry. I would love to see people start going to community meetings to save the neighborhood vibe that made people want to move to H in the first place.
I think I tried to go there for the advertised oraange cream slush or shake I saw on tv. I dont think they had it cuz I dont remember it
The parmesan garlic wings are the best.
@ huh? Nov 8, 2013, 1:54:00 PM
http://www.checkers.com/food/full_menu#/crazy-good-wings
Trust me, just look on the ground in 2 block in either direction.
I think anything that increases the density of the neighborhood is going to be a net positive.
@ Protect H..."save the neighborhood vibe" I don't think that sorry Checkers drive-through does anything for the neighborhood vibe. What exactly do you want in that spot?
Agree with 6:49. Increasing density on H is a positive. People want retail and services, but right now H simply doesn't have enough people. Without more condos and apts H will remain only a nighttime restaurant/bar destination.
Anon 11/08 6:49 -- Thanks. I was unaware that Checkers had wings. Re: everywhere within a two block radius, I don't live within two blocks, but I live within three, and I walk my dog in that direction fairly frequently (~14th and E), and I've never seen them. But maybe I've just been lucky.
The food was not great and I see a benefit to more people living in the area. I like fast food, but it's hard to argue that Checkers benefits the neighborhood or creates "character." Plenty of cheap fast options remain around the neighborhood even if it disappears.
On another note, not all of us that are fine with gentrification are elitist, racist pigs. We are aware that just like anything else, there are positives and negatives to it. Does it displace people, yes, but no one has a permanent claim to any neighborhood or home in this country. You know who it displaced for me? Rental neighbors running a stolen vehicle chop shop in the back yard which was owned by a former H St denizen/absentee landlord living in VA. Less trash, better home maintenance, lower crime, increased property values, better schools are part of what defines a community as great or not great. This neighborhood will never be Georgetown, so enough with the histrionics. H St does not draw the same type of homeowner/renter.
100% of gentrification is not caused by a forced tax sale or increased cost. Many of the homes that have sold in this area were vacant, dilapidated to the point the homeowner could not afford to repair them or sold by the owner to take advantage of incredible profits on their property. A lot of owners did not even live in DC. Should the former owners be held accountable for causing gentrification? Are the new buyers bad people? Have the new residents stolen a gorgeous neighborhood from the previous owners? No.
"underworked and overpaid millenials"? Pretty sure it's the other way 'round.
the checkers guy was brilliant- he had 3 sites in the city and he bought them all for a few hundred grand 30 plus years ago, dropped checkers to land bank them and is now rolling out kinged. Good for him, and good riddance crappy chicken wings, slimy burgers, limpy crisco fries; the hood has changed and aint nobody got time for that.
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