Shiloh Properties Update

My usual path no longer takes me along 9th Street anymore. Trips to Giant stops right at 8th Street. I might wander over to 9th to see if Buttercream has any ho-hos. And so the search for specialty cake products brought me over to the 1500 block of 9th Street NW and I was surprised to see what looked to be work on Shiloh Baptist Church's long vacant properties.

This might be old news to some, as I did notice another Shiloh property on the opposite side of the street appeared no longer vacant. And the poster celebrating Victory Village looks, old. When doing a Google search for Victory Village and Shiloh, I came across a 2010 CityPaper article about the project. That doesn't provide a lot of confidence. What does provide confidence is the scaffolding up along the sidewalk. And the fact that the block is a little less vacant than 10 years ago.

 Next to the National Park Service's Carter G. Woodson House, formerly owned by Shiloh were some 3 story high scaffolding with the banner of a contractor, Thomas Archer on it. That looks a bit more real, and this thing might actually happen. Maybe. Hopefully. Lord willing. I pray that in 5 years the 1500 block of 9th Street NW is as healthy as the 1500 block of 7th St NW. I hope that Shiloh will no longer be known as the church with all those run down vacant properties. I don't expect Shiloh to gain the real estate mojo of UHOP, that would be akin to expecting Keneau Reeves to out act Christian Bale.

This has been cross posted with the InShaw Blog.

1538 9th St NW- Off the list

The National Park Service FINALLY, finished the home of Carter G. Woodson.
I posted about the problem the structure was in February 2014.

3 years ago the property was a problem. The NPS put up a fence that was supposed to keep the homeless men who used the basement and door/window wells as a hang out and sleeping area. However, it extended out to the street blocking the sidewalk. So if you wanted to walk down 9th you had the option of walking in the street or crossing around 4-6 lanes to the other side.

Ten years ago, the blogs original author Ed mentioned it, and it was abandoned then too. Previously it was owned by Shiloh Baptist Church which still owns many, many crumbly 9th Street properties with no shame and no real plan. It was acquired by NPS in 2005.

Usually I complain about DC government properties that stay vacant for-ever, when no one has any idea what will happen to the property. When the federal government, the NPS, purchased it, there was a plan. But that was 12 years ago. Over a DECADE. So in the case of already vacant properties, remember this and a dozen other places around the city and things tagged "government" when even entertaining the suggestion that the city or the federal government take over, unless you're into waiting a decade or more for change.

Now don't plan a trip to the Carter G. Woodson house just yet. It still is not open to the public as of yet. It's safe enough for the NPS to let in a few VIPs for special visits. Good enough to me.


HT: DCist

1216-1218 9th St NW- being worked on

I want to update these properties but the problem is construction is slower than slow sometimes. There is construction going on at 1216-1218 9th St NW. This is improvement actually from the condemnation of the buildings reported in 2008.
There is not just work being done on the facade but construction being done on the rear as well.
According to the tax database 1212-1226 9th St NW is one of Jemal's properties (listed as JEMAL'S 9TH STREET GANG OF 3 LLC ). Douglas Jemal is a huge property owner and developer in Washington DC. It doesn't matter if a property is vacant and taxed at the vacant rate, Jemal will sit on a property and only develop it when he is good and ready to do so. He/ his company bought this back in 2008 and it seems permits and all signs of beginning work began back in 2013.
Anyway, according to the Douglas Corporation's website this project is slated to become office and retail. I cannot find a delivery date.

1534-1536 9th St NW- Shiloh's Historically Vacant Property

1534 9th St NW and 1536 9th St NW sit next to a few other vacant properties on the northern end of 9th St that do not belong to Shiloh Baptist Church, the Carter G. Woodson complex, owned by the National Park Service.
Although all the vacant 9th Street Shiloh properties sit in an historic district, there is nothing compelling the church to restore them other than the vacant property tax, which thus far has produced little.
Since 2005, the yearly taxes paid for the property at 1534 9th NW has ranged from $8,238.62 to $48,238.00, the higher amount being from 2009 like so many other Shiloh properties on 9th.  In total for the years 2005-2013, Shiloh Baptist Church has paid $156,203.58* in property taxes.
1536 9th St NW, like 1534, is listed as vacant. Payments from 2005 to 2013 range from $4,083.98 to $50,178.00. The lower amount was followed with a higher payment of $36,153.45 the next year. The total paid for those years is $164,049.32*. The 2005-2013 tax total for both properties is $320,252.90*.

*Taxes only calculated once.

1526-1532 9TH ST NW- Shameful Shiloh

Shiloh Baptist Church, which sits at the corner of 9th and P Sts NW owns a number of vacant properties on the western side of the 1500 block of 9th St. NW. The church owns 1526, 1528, 1532, 1534, and 1536 9th St. NW. This post will just be about the buildings seen here in the photo, 1526-1532 9th St NW. 1534 and 1536 will be featured in a later posting.
1526 9th St NW, sits next to Shiloh's Family Life Center, which houses the church's cafeteria and other event spaces. It is currently taxed at the vacant rate for 2014. From 2005-2013 the church has paid between $8,513.34 and $50,191.00 a year on property taxes for lot  825 on square 365. The total taxes paid, according to the DC Office of Tax and Revenue from 2005 to 2013 is $158,794.52.
1528 9th St NW (0365 0824) is also listed as vacant and currently taxed as such. Between 2005 and 2013 it has paid from $9,408.30 in 2010 to $54,954.00 in 2009. Last year, 2013, the tax office records a payment of $20,098.00. For 2005-2013, about $175,768 in taxes were paid.
1530 9th St NW, the green building shown, is not vacant and is not owned by Shiloh Baptist. It is an active commercial enterprise and pays the commercial tax rate.
1532 9th Street NW is vacant and is owned by Shiloh. The property on lot 822, is currently taxed at the vacant rate and has a balance of $11,751.60 that has not been paid, according to the tax office's public database. Between 2005 and 2013, the lowest amount of taxes paid was $5,580.24 in 2008, and the highest was $65,329 in 2009.
The properties are being taxed and have been taxed at the appropriate rate (though 2009 seems a bit excessive). The main church building at 1500 9th Street, NW is exempt from property taxes as it serves the organization's primary non-profit purpose. The adjoining Family Life Center at 1510 9th St NW does pay some taxes, even though the building serves some church functions.  So the right buildings are taxed at the correct rates.
Unfortunately, the vacant buildings are not benign. Homeless men sleep and loiter in the entryways of the Family Life Center and the vacant buildings. Unkept rear yards harbor rats. Sadly the condition of the vacant properties have changed very little since I have lived in Shaw since 2000. Below please find posts from print media and local blogs about the problems with the Shiloh properties along the 1500 blk of 9th St NW.

***
2001- “Neighbors Label Church ‘Slumlord'” Washington Post April 12, 1990 (part on Renew Shaw 2007 post)
2001 Perennials- Who Cares About Vacant Properties? DC Watch
2007 Shiloh Properties Condemned- DCist
2007 Shiloh Properties Watch: Day 1- DCist
DCist articles on Shiloh Baptist
2007 Goodspeed Update- has map of properties
2007 1998 Grant to Shiloh for 1533 9th St, NW ReNew Shaw2007 Condemning a Church's Property- Washington Post
2009 Shiloh Baptist to Present Plans For Its Vacant Properties- Washington City Paper
2010 Washington Biz Journal "Evans withdraws Shiloh Bill" "Shiloh Baptist's promises earned proposed tax break" and article with same title.
2012 Why Shiloh Baptist Church Hangs On to Those Vacant Properties- Washington City Paper

2013 Worship, abandoned properties coexist, American Observer

1533 9th St NW- Shiloh Shame

There are many churches in the Shaw area, some with real estate beyond their worship building. The United House of Prayer (UHOP) has real property all over the neighborhood, and in recent years have decided to populate the area with Suzane Reatig buildings, for various income levels. Mt. Sinai Baptist Church in the Truxton Circle part of Shaw, uses the townhomes across from it's main building for various church activities and ministries. Mt Lebanon Baptist, though not owning the former MM Washington School has managed to turn the property into senior housing.

Sadly Shiloh Baptist Church has proven itself incompetent to deal with it's long held properties. However this post will focus on one 1533 9th St NW. Unfortunately, this property is in as just as poor shape as the church's other 9th St properties.
During our walk around the neighborhood looking at vacant and previously vacant properties, we spoke with Ken R. who lives adjacent to the problem property. He informed us of the various problems he's encountered and efforts he's made to attempt to improve the situation. The city government, in it's various functions have failed him, with police who fail to move vagrants and the tax office which until recently failed to tax 1533 9th St NW at the vacant tax rate. He did praise the Fenty administration for getting the church to replace plywood windows with plexiglass.

Plexiglass window

1533 9th St NW was a little hard to locate in DC Office of Tax and Revenue's Assessment database, as the "NW" was dropped. The property at SSL: 0397 0031 has an odd history of tax payments. This year for 1533 9th, the city collected $12,325.40 the vacant rate. Last year, $3,910.70. In 2012, $8,507.61.  2012 is an interesting year, the city charged the church for this property $26,240.70, and credited them $19,671.12. There are various reasons for this but the database doesn't state why. Looking at what the city charges it seems that there are years the city wasn't charging the vacant rate, such as 2013 and 2011, even though the property has been vacant for well over a decade, with no brief moments of legitimate occupancy. The 2011 taxes might be explained with a permit (B0908078/BZA NO. 18059) issued in July 2011 for construction of an addition. The first photo in this post is of the rear of 1533. There is no addition. One could look at the permit as a ruse to put off the vacant tax rate, or more proof that the church is incapable of following through with its plans.

Later I will look at other 9th St Shiloh vacant properties.In the meanwhile here's some fun facts.
Shiloh has an estimated Sunday attendance of 2000. In 1957 it had an average attendance of 1200-1500. In 1957 about 97% of its parishioners did not live in the Shaw area, but rather in other parts of DC. Now many members live outside of the District of Columbia.

9th and Q- no vacancy

This image is a chestnut from 2008, showcasing guerrilla citizenry or guerrilla government. Ray, an oldtimer who lives near the intersection of 9th and Q, is credited with painting this abandoned. Not just slapping a random coat of paint on, no, he painted on the wishes and dreams of the neighborhood. A wish for a nice cafe, with chairs and a white table cloth and maybe Starbucks like coffee being served would appear where a rotting corpse of a building sits. If you can read French, which I can't, there is some humor in the words painted.
Well fast forward to today and there is no cafe but rather nice looking residence. On the list on right there was a link to a now defunct blog Off Seventh about the problem area that was the intersection of Q and 9th Streets NW.
Around the mid-00's this area was an intersection of vacancy. Even across the street, opposite of 821 Q NW, was a hole of despair. Ray or some others called it "Lake Woodson", as it would fill up with rainwater. It was not a pretty sight, but if you want to see what it looked like visit https://flic.kr/p/8GNn4 and https://flic.kr/p/7xiSW . Now that former hole in the ground is a residential building with a couple of units, as seen in the image below.


The area has gentrified and there are still vacant holes along 9th Street needing to be filled, which displaces nobody, unless you count homeless squatters and rats. Just around the corner are vacant and possibly vacant properties, those I will deal with next week.

1314 and 1316 9th St NW- No Vacancy

Yesterday I wrote about what a great location 1316 8th St NW was, being steps from really cool places, such as a bar. Former vacant spots featured here were 1316 9th St NW and 1314 9th St NW over at Renew Shaw. My predecessor Ed described 1316 as such in 2008:

This former barbershop was bought by a developer on 09/13/2007 for $300,000. The developer's presentation at the ANC2f meeting on 1/9/2008 was very encouraging and I wish them luck.

It should be noted that the building is in horrible condition due to the negligence of the previous owners and the city government's inaction. Remarkably, it is not listed as vacant by OTR or DCRA. The current owner is entitled to an exemption though.  

Renew Shaw wrote of 1314 in 2007, "Between be bar and Long View Gallery and adjacent to an alley of Naylor Court, it seems to sit a prime lower 9th location. Sadly, it appears to be falling into disrepair and largely vacant."
Today 1314 is the A& D bar and 1316 is the Thally Restaurant. In between them at 1314 1/2 is the innovative Seasonal Pantry. And around the corner and in the alley, in possibly the same building as A&D is Sundevich. All of these commercial enterprises make this area a concentrated spot of foodie heaven.
A&D Neighborhood Bar opened in 2012 on Repeal Day. I, myself have been in once. It's a Shaw bar with pretty decent Yelp reviews. I'm sure everyone is happy it is open and a viable business.
Around the alley is Sundevich. It is a fancy sandwich shop. The sandwiches are fancy, not the shop, which can get crowded. It opened in 2011.
At 1314 1/4 is Seasonal Pantry, which is part special foods store part supper club and the minds behind this shop brought forth Sundevich. This also opened around 2011, but was engaging in a CSA like business before that. The Supper club is quite popular and seating is VERY limited. Looking at April's supper club availability, there is only one seat available. It is very popular.
1316 9th St NW is a regular sit down restaurant with wait service. Thally opened in 2013 and got decent reviews. I've eaten there once, and had an enjoyable meal once the waitress acknowledged our existence. It does get a bit loud once the crowd comes, but it is the same with other new restaurants that have come along 9th St (Table/ Baby Wale).
Back in 2007-2008 none of us could have imagined what a wonderful tasty corner this has become. Life has been shot back into a section of 9th St NW. It is more attractive and makes the neighborhood more desirable. So with that I remove 1314 and 1316 9th St NW from the list on the right of vacant properties.

1549 9th St NW-possibly vacant or just poorly maintained

1549 has a brick problem. A portion of the brick facade over the first floor window is falling out or has fallen out. As you can see in the image. The rest of the house looks like it has crappy windows, which I totally understand. I have crappy windows, windows which I hope to replace soon. There is that winter plastic in the upstairs windows, it does very little good after one season.
It is possible that 1549 is not vacant, but rather is just poorly maintained. Amazingly none of the brick appears to have harmed the windows. It is taxed at the regular rate.
According to the DC tax office website it is owned by a Rose Chapman of Glenarden, MD. A quick look on the internet (Ancestry.com) seem to hint of a Rose M Chapman of a certain age in Glenarden, MD and a Rose Marie Chapman who died in 2005. The deceased RMC was 90 and lived in Washington, the Maryland RMC seems old enough to be a member of AARP but I am not confident enough to say she is the same person and may be alive.
Back in 2011 condos were supposed to be coming to this stretch of buildings, between 1549 and 1539, according to an article in the MidCity magazine. It's 2014.

1538 9th St NW

, a photo by In Shaw on Flickr.

For Black History Month I present 1538 9th Street NW, home of Carter G. Woodson, the father of Black History.
As you may notice this and the adjoining building are surrounded by a high chain linked fence for pedestrian safety. It has been like this for awhile. Years really. The historic home and adjoining property are owned by the National Park Service who have plans, but apparently no money to do anything. The plans have been around for years, so long so that original plans included another adjoining property the federal agency did not own and was bought by private citizens, who fixed it up and made it their residence. When the NPS dragged out the plans again to show that they had plans, the owners of the house that was part of the plan were alarmed.
Regardless of a plan or not, this and the next door property are vacant, and have been for years. Let's hope that this will not be featured in DC Vacant Properties' 2015 Black History Month profile.
See also Renew Shaw's 2007 post about 1538 9th St NW, and the National Park Service's failure to rehabilitate this property.