Waffle Shop’s Future Facade Unknown

A colleague of mine on the cube farm wrote the WaPo reporter about this piece. Here’s his response for ways to save the Waffle Shop:

“Thanks for the interest in my piece, Khristyn.
Looks like various local preservation organizations — the Committee of 100, the Art Deco Soc. of Washington, the DC Preservation League — are launching a landmark nomination for the Waffle Shop, as they have for many local buildings. I’m sure they’d be interested in your support and help.

Best,

Blake Gopnik

Chief Art Critic
The Washington Post
1150 15th St., NW
Washington, DC
USA 20071

Tel.: 202-334-6756
Fax: 202-334-5587
Email: gopnikb@washpost.com“

The article was a little vague on the Waffle Shop’s historic status. It apparently IS on the DC historic site index (pdf) – which means all construction must be approved by the review board.

So, what benefit does “landmark” status bring? I’m all for preserving the facade, but I don’t think there is much benefit in restricting the development of the site.

Move the facade to adams morgan or in shaw but it dont belong there. It would look great next to the Wonder Baker at 7th and S nw next to the pink elephant by suzane reiteg.

I agree. The article does state, Jemal plans to keep the neon sign and incorporate it into whatever the project is for that block.

I will miss the waffle shop. There are so few diners in DC and that is a really good one.

Are there any civic associations in our neighborhood? Penn Quarter Neighborhood Association–despite the name–isn’t an association of residents but rather a subsidiary of the National Capital Planning Corporation that basically just promotes the neighborhood. They don’t seem accountable for anything they do or don’t do (like bringing a grocery store in), and who knows if the people running it even live in DC.

A civic association would be a great way to have our voices heard re: this Waffle Shop facade (which will almost certainly be saved by Jemal anyway) and especially the grocery store issue. The Logan Circle Community Association was instrumental in bringing Whole Foods to that neighborhood.

This blog is an excellent way to get information out, but it’s hard to really organize here. Does anyone know of a civic association? Does anyone else see the need?

Anonymous 12/12/2006 02:23:00 PM , I see the need. While PQNA does a great job with things like Arts on Foot, we still need some sort of public organization that will meet regularly and organize on behalf of the residents in the neighborhood. I completely agree that a grocery store would be a good ralling point.

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No way does that need to be preserved. We’ll be preserving dog poop on the sidewalk soon cause it reminds us of a time when, blah, blah.

Sam, you have got to be kidding me. If it weren’t for preservation, the Portrait Gallery would be a parking lot. “Dog Poop” is actually what happens when you don’t preserve (aka…Southwest DC). If Doug Jemal hadn’t preserved the old storefronts downtown (prompting new buildings to copy them), we’d be living in something that looks a lot more like Foggy Bottom or Golden Triangle. I personally prefer the preservation route.

How about someone putting some action behind their words and start with a virtual community organization – which could be annoucned on this blog… and then have a meet-up in the coming weeks? We could congregate somewhere locally and recruit and grow!

Andy —

There is definitely a role for preservation and you cite some good examples that I would agree with but there also has to be room for new buildings to come in and make their mark. For me the Waffle shop is cute and interesting but I see no reason why it should be preserved.

Preserving the Waffle House facade without preserving the diner inside is like taking your dead grandma to the taxidermist. Is this supposed to be some reminder of when eating out was affordable, and when different classes of people actually ate together at the same counter? I hate to agree with Sam, but it’s a quaint relic of an era when the neighborhood was bluecollar and middle class. That’s no longer the case, and the residents seem happy to welcome more gleaming office cubes, precious overpriced food, and chain restaurants.

The residents don’t choose or control which businesses move in. The market and commercial property owners do. I hear the residents saying that they’d rather see local shops, but if they must take a chain or gleaming office cubes, let’s at put them behind a facade that preserves some originality, uniqueness and character in the neighborhood.

Residents control what businesses come in based on their buying power. If they buy tapas and expensive coffee, those are the businesses they get. If they don’t patronize inexpensive diners, those die off. I don’t see too many nail salons or bodegas peddling 40s in the neighborhood. I think it’s an insult to use the gutted hulk of the Waffle Shop to hide the sterile business cubes. Empty office blocks and the lack of groundfloor retail are what discourage foot traffic. A polished facade just hides the problem.

Sam, I think we’re talking past eachother. I agree with you, preservation and progress can go hand in hand. I don’t think the preservation of waffle shop’s facade is holding anything up.

MonkeyErotica, I don’t know for sure, but I can’t imagine Jemal can build something in that location without first floor retail. I don’t think zoning laws allow that in that part of our neighborhood. As for the waffle business, that place is more packed today than I have ever seen it in the 6 years I’ve been going there. If it goes away, hopefully something like it will replace it nearby.

I seriously doubt there will ever be something like Waffle House there. High rents and neighborhood residents would dictate either some chain cafe or boutique store. It’s too small for a steakhouse or a tapas place.

Scholl’s Cafeteria was also packed the weeks before it closed. Same with Sherrill’s, and I’m sure Restaurant AV will be when their time comes. Something about an obituary really brings the old customers and the curious out of the woodwork.

Actually, it’s been really busy over the last year. Most of the new customers are tourists, who up until recently, didn’t venture much into the neighborhood.

Monkeyrotica – you are so right, Red Sage was packed today at lunch but was quiet the day before their closing was announced.

Residents in this neighborhood do not control what businesses come in based on their buying power, the developers do, and most of the buying power in this neighborhood comes from people who are not residents. I buy groceries, as does everyone, but there is no grocer busting the doors down. Dean & Deluca actually decided to close its doors with no replacement. I don’t think the reason you don’t see nail shops in this neighborhood is because people don’t get their nails done in rich neighborhoods. My wife did nails in Chevy Chase for 10 years and made a killing. The buying power is there. There actually are nail salons in this neighborhood, but they’re either in second story spaces, or are incorporated into spas with the hair and skin care because a nail salon on it’s own at ground level can’t afford the rent required to get enough space to run the business and still make a profit, unless they charge triple the regular prices, which by itself sends away the customer. When you are in a downtown neighborhood dominated buy federal gov’t offices, you can have all the demand for nail care you want, but that won’t bring the price per square foot down to a level that is disproportionate with the office space pricing. The residents are not driving the price of office space. We don’t collectively have the demand. We could all fit in a single building. Now, the places that are only open for breakfast and close after work hours – they seem to do very well. But again, I don’t think the residents are driving that with their buying power. i think we actually control relatively little relative to the other forces involved.

monkeyrotica, you’re off on several accounts. Waffle Shop is not dying off because neighborhood residents don’t patronize inexpensive diners; it has plenty of business and would remain if it weren’t in the way of a larger development. Neighborhood residents have very little control over what businesses open and close here (perhaps you should check out some of the grocery store discussions). You seem to acknowledge this by saying “high rents” will dictate what opens in Waffle Shop’s place in the new development.

And you should check out the 700 block of D St NW which, despite being across the street from my fancy condo building, has nail salons AND a crappy bodega selling 40’s (no wine, even though they have the license). Don’t forget the pair of blight-ful buildings Jemal has let waste away. I feel SO empowered.