We know D.C. Get our free newsletter to stay in the know.
This week, some prominent bloggers—-Felix Salmon, Megan McArdle, Matt Yglesias, DCist’s Sommer Mathis —-are hammering at a curious urban quandary: why some storefronts remain vacant on bustling commercial strips.
Think U Street, in particular. Or 14th Street. Or whatever remains boarded up on H Street around the Atlas District, especially in a year or two since the area is developing so rapidly.
Well, I’m going to take a summarizing approach to the subject because City Paper actually reported on this issue in 2007! Our piece, written by freelancer Jackie Kucinich, focused on U Street, near 14th Street.
Here are some reasons why certain properties may sit empty for years:
- The properties are being rented out—the renters just fail to execute their plans. Shocker: It’s not always the landlord’s fault! One U Street property was rented out to a Burger King franchise for a decade, but the Burger King never opened.
- The landlords have big dreams. Renter Schmenter—-Sometimes landlords drop ’em. After the Burger King flop, the owner of the above-mentioned property decided that he could cash in big time on this property if he bought land next door and opened a wonderful restaurant. Gentrification doesn’t just breed boutiques and Belgian brasseries! It also breeds grandiose visions.
- Vacant property tax laws suck. Here’s Kucinich’s take on this issue: “The city’s vacant-property taxes are virtually the only torch the city has to hold to an owner’s feet; they are more than five times the residential rate and more than twice the commercial rate. Yet the vacant tax is riddled with exceptions. (Graham and Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh are pushing loophole-closing legislation in the D.C. Council. “The bill will cut way back on the exemptions that allow individuals to escape the vacant property rule,” Graham says.)” Of course, I can’t imagine the city’s vacant property tax rate reduction is going to help.
- High expectations. “His asking price is far beyond what is reasonable,” one local civic leader said about a U Street landlord.
Image by Darrow Montgomery
This isn't a paywall.
We don't have one. Readers like you keep our work free for everyone to read. If you think that it's important to have high quality local reporting we hope you'll support our work with a monthly contribution.