Great Waffles In History

Has Jemal given any indication where exactly they will be moving to on 7th Street? I hope he finds someone with some good food service background to operate it.

What’s Jemal waiting for with regards to developing his properties on 7th along the convention center? Is he still holding out to assemble a few more lots? If so, how many? Has he not secured investors?

I would guess he was waiting to find out if the convention center hotel was actually going to happen or not. And now, even if they know what they want to do with the properties, and get the architectural plans, etc. drawn up, I believe they not not only need to go though DCRA, but through the nieghborhood associations, the ANC, the DC Historic Preservation group, and probably the zoning board/BZA (board of zoning adjustment), where they may get some neighborhood protest that could draw out the process another 6 months to a year before they can even think about breaking ground. And he might be thinking about whether or not to even attempt something that would eventually require a liquor license, which the Church or other long time neighborhood groups could tie up for another year or so, potentially making it difficult to sign a tenant. I believe they also have some other big projects they are focusing on currently.

There was a seemingly interesting show that I heard about 5 minutes of on 88.5′s Kojo Nnamdi yesterday which touched on the differences between building a house in DC today vs. 50 years ago, and why it is so much more time consuming and expensive now, which pushes developers to look at more profitable ventures. All of the different groups’ hoops you have to jump through to get approvals is a big part of it. Not that those are all bad, but they definitely slow things down and even push potential companies to jurisdictions outside DC, albeit while trying to prevent mistakes from the past.

I really doubt its an issue of getting through hoops. Jemal seems to move in mysterious ways, and doesn’t always concern himself with rules and regulations – that seems to be something he lets the lawyers work out after the fact.

Some of Jemal’s developments move at a glacial pace, even when he’s jumped through all the hoops. I’m sure the new Waffle Shop will move forward when he decides the neighborhood is ready for it.