House Of Blues Signs Letter Of Intent On District Location

Question… should we really be smiling about this? Do we WANT gallery place/PQ to be a chains-only neighborhood?

Also,
Walnut Street Development of Fairfax, VA is a partner in this development…

Dgarbs: I feel exactly the same way! Maybe a Wal-Mart will follow?

Of course we should be smiling about this! A mom & pop outfit is not going to build a $120 million complex.

The chains vs. mom & pop argument still needs to be hashed out. If Cowgirl Creamery opens up three more stores in other cities across the country, are you not going to like to shop there anymore?

I mean, house of blues only has 10 locations.

I think it sounds great. As long as GP has the Convention Center/Verizon Center in it’s ‘hood you will continue to have chains. Some will be good and some will be cheesy. This is a good one. And, you guys are still living in the most exciting urban neighborhood on the East Coast.

The HOB is fine with me. Folks are patriotic about their musical tastes, so I don’t think HOB will “steal” any business away from smaller quality venues.

I am concerned that there still more business being built for tourists than there are for residents of PQ. IE Would like to see hardware stores, Container Stores, dry cleaning, etc.

As big taxpayers of the downtown area, we should be getting more services that support our residential needs.

dgarbs: I think we should smile about vacant lots overgrown with weeds. Burned-out shells of buildings covered in graffiti always warm my heart. Add in a couple barrels with burning trash, and that’s the neighborhood I want.

I don’t think that national chains are benign in all cases, but let’s be serious about the costs and benefits here. You’re giving up an empty lot, boraded up buildings, and a theoretical independent business that has yet to show up with the money to develop the property. You’re getting a new entertainment/hotel/retail/dining complex with a positive, nationally recognized brand that only has 10 other outlets. And you don’t have to spend a dime!

There are definitely some chains I don’t want near my home (Wal-Mart is a great example), but some I would welcome with open arms (Nordstrom, say, or even Costco). Just because a business has been successful enough to expand doesn’t automatically mean they are corporate raiders aimed only at killing independent business, paying low wages, and homogenizing your life.

Not all chains are created equal, and if HoB wants to spend $120 mil to replace blight in my neighborhood, that’s something I’ll smile about.

For those people who only want Mom & Pop stores, I suggest you move to North Dakota. Give me a break. While I agree that it is nice to have a mix of independent, as well as chain stores, let’s get real here. Having the House of Blues on that corner will do so much for our neighborhood. I suppose anonymous 1 and 2 would also be against a Whole Foods or Trader Joes opening up in the neighborhood.

I for one do not want the House of Blues (HOB) in DC. Primarily b/c it would affect the business of a DC institution I cherish – the 9:30 Club.

From what I’ve read, putting on shows at the 9:30 is a small margin business when you factor in all the costs involved in putting on big rock shows. I’d imagine HOB could under-cut them with their corporate muscle.

Boooo.

Outstanding. Who cares if they aren’t home grown. Let the people vote with their pocketbooks on whether this is a valuable addition to the hood or not. And are we in a position to scoff at $100+ million of investment?

Let’s put this thing in perspective…HOB is not Starbucks. There aren’t 3000 of them. It is a premier entertainment venue that would anchor the north east corner of the PQ and the SW corner of the MVT. Perfect geographical placement. I do feel for the 9:30 club though as this is an invasion of their space. There is a lot anti-big box sentiment these days. Wal-Mart would be foolish to take on placing a downtown DC store.

Lastly, the agreement is non-binding. A binding agreement couldn’t get Balducci’s into 7th Street. The deal isn’t truly cemented until there is a ground breaking. I’d like to see the details…they tell me that’s where the devil lives.

Actually pqresident, according to the Post HOB is part of Clear Channel, who I would say are much worse than Starbucks.

They’re the wonderful folks who ruined commercial FM radio with mindless playlists and formatting, killing off DJ personalities and any originality in the process.

And with their dominance of the music venues around the country, they (along with Ticketma$ter) are the reason you get the privilege of paying an extra 15% in “services” to see most live music.

Going to see live music is an experience that should be funky and interesting; not like going to a theme park.

Keep DC weird.

ml…D.C has never been weird (that’s Austin). But it has been boring and dry. I think the House of Blues will be a great addition to Penn Quarter/Mount Vernon Triangle.

I used to manage a radio station. Cool FM radio died when the FCC lifted ownership restrictions in 1996. The Internet, satellite radio (XM, Sirius) and digital distribution (iTunes) are adequate replacements (improvements?). I agree that ClearChannel’s motive is only $ and that Ticketmaster is a money squeezing monopoly. But, I digress.

Having another pure entertainment venue in our area is a plus.

HOB will be a gread addition to NOMA. anything to shut down the porn shop and stop the street prostitution.

It sounds like the Five Guys burgers at 9th & H has to be driven out of the neighborhood. They have even more locations than House of Blues!!!! Great burgers and fries for a great price, but OBVIOUSLY, it has to go.

I think folks need to stop painting people who have legitimate concerns about places like HOB as being simplistically knee-jerk anti-chain. I would argue that most people who raise questions aren’t so much worried about literally the number of chains coming in, but rather the effect that specific establishments might have on the direction of the character of our neighborhood and our city.

Jaleo is obviously now a chain, but everyone loves our Jaleo. So don’t just start mindlessly crying out that we’re anti-chain just because its a chain — no one is saying that! GPliving, thats why your cowgirl creamery example is totally disingenuous.

There’s a legitimate debate going on about whether the HOB will have a negative effect on places like the 9:30 Club, Birchmere, etc. Whether it will actually have an impact or not I don’t know, but thats a legitimate concern for people to raise and ponder.

Stop trying to paint us all as just being “anti-chain”. There’s usually more to it than that and I think you know it.

hmmm… my living room window faces the corner of 5th and I Streets (where it would ostensibly be located). The lot size is WAY small. What are they going to take down? The building on I Street that ICE (DHS) leases? Something would have to be torn down to fit a $120 million project.

Anytime a new place to have more national and international music acts opens up in DC, that is a good thing. It allows for variety and specializing. And HOB usually puts on some very good shows and there are plenty of bands that would play 930 and not HOB and vice versa!

Without chains, there would be nothing much in Penn Quarter as it stands.. I’d like to thank Jemal for a little of this..

Olsens is a chain…
SB
Jaleo
Kinkos
RT
Legal S
hooters
cvs
and on and on and on..

But they don’t always work out.. Just like Coyote Ugly..

I am thrilled! Thrilled! There are room for Mom & Pop’s and a lot are etiring/selling out, look at Chinatown, there is room for their offspring that want to stay. I love the House of Blues, their Acoustics are good, their bookings are good. 9:30 club is a whole different feel and there is room for all. More and more people with dispoable income and party people are moviing in to town all the time. We are becoming a destination place to live. And you know what– I would love a Walmart and I am glad of the European chains and I am just so happy to see activity in what was “downtown dead.” I love the new neighborhoods being built and it makes me feel like the city has arrived when a venue like House of Blues wants in. Weclome!

The 9:30 vs. HOB debate is ridiculous. If 9:30 loses business so what? All that means is that people prefer HOB to 9:30. Why should we limit consumer choice? If you don’t like HOB or what they stand for, don’t spend your money there. But don’t impose your values on the rest of us.

I say let HOB open and may the best venue win (and I’m not even convinced that there necessarily has to be a loser here, with the arrival of HOB likely serving to expand the menu of live act options rather than just stealing them from others).

The key comment here is Dave’s. Yes, HOB will be located near the convention center, and yes, the convention center draws thousands of tourists a week. But Penn Quarter will sustain itself as a neighborhood only if residents settle there for the long term, and residents will only settle there for the long term if there are services to support them. What Penn Quarter needs, as Dave said, are big grocery stores, smaller food stores, hardware stores, convenience stores, dry cleaners, and the like. I worry that Penn Quarter will turn itself into Orlando–shop! eat! bowl! see music! have fun!–at the expense of its residents. Don’t get me wrong: I like doing all of those things. But a neighborhood is a neighborhood, and those things don’t compose any of our everyday lives.

Colin,

The problem is that HOB (and Clearchannel) write EXCLUSIVE deals into performer contracts. That means if you’re a headliner playing HOB, you are contractually forbidden from playing 930. Kinda like how you can either get Coke or Pepsi but not both in a restaurant. This means LESS consumer choice for listeners, not more.

If anything, 930 will syphon bands from Black Cat.

Andrew–

City Vista, one block north of HOB, will have both a hardware store (same owners as Logan Hardware) and grocery store (Safeway) when it opens.

all the high rollers who can afford PQ now should shop via Peapod or have the maid, butler or nanny make purchases when they’re out cruising. PQ residents dont need real grocery stores. that’s absurd.

diane: that’s absurd. Residents, like myself, have to travel across the city (by metro or by car) to get our groceries.

Why can’t we all just get along? What’s wrong with BOTH- mom and pop stores AND chains?

Don’t forget Diane that PQ was anything but high roller in ’02, ’03 and ’04 when many of us put our money on the line. Two years of arguably hollow paper gains don’t make us high rollers now. A grocery store is the difference between a neighborhood and a destination. I’ll take a destination but I prefer a neighborhood.

About the grocery store discussion…. we do have a Giant Food within walking distance to Penn Quarter – on 9th & O. And, when you buy a few too many things to carry, you can hop on the Circulator bus and you’ll be back home in a jiffy. No maid, butler, or car necessary.

I live in PQ, it’s 10 blocks from 9th and O. You are crazy if you think i would jeopardize my safety to shop at THAT Giant supermarket. Furthermore, wait at that bustop next to the gangster drug dealing parking lot. The service is dreadful and the products suck. It takes longer to stand in the checkout lines than it does to shop.

Agreed that Giant at 8th & O is not a PQ neighborhood grocery. The Safeway in SW is about as close, and a much better store. That Giant is a sad example of the poor quality stores that DC has had to endure for far too long. These stores don’t improve until one of the dreaded out-of-town chains moves in: look at the 17th Street Safeway in Dupont after Whole Foods opened, or the Capitol Hill Safeway at 15th & E that suddenly renovated when Harris Teeter started building a couple blocks away.

diane lawyer basura’s comment is completely insane, and you can’t really argue with crazy. I’m just hoping all the new retail space in the neighborhood will attract at least one decent grocer and one decent wine shop. Maybe Akridge will deliver what Jemal and JPI have only promised.

While the Gian at 7th & O might not be the best supermarket, I have shopped there numerous times and have never felt that my safety was in danger. Yes, the lines are long and slow. And the service is not great. But I don’t think it is dangerous.

I’ve been shopping at that Giant for over 6 years…and there’s not a scratch on me.

There are a lot of friendly, happy and productive members of our city that shop at THAT Giant. Smile, you live in Washington, DC. It’s a great city.

Perhaps you’d feel safer if you lived in Chevy Chase? or Disney World?