234 Florida Ave NW- 1/2 occupied

So there is a commercial property that a landlord is holding on to and seems to have little interest in actually having a commercial tenant. That place is 234 Florida Ave NW, in Truxton Circle. I've reviewed it before, and today I'm taking it off the list, even though there still isn't a tenant in the commercial space.

Why?

Kitty in the upstairs window.

Across the street from 234 FL Ave on 3rd St NW is a lovely establishment called ANXO. It was a warm day, and I was in the mood to sit out on the patio with my infant. While I was there I observed the landlord with a gentleman. They may have just reviewed the space. Then my eyes gazed upward to the upstairs, where there was a black and white cat doing what cats do. That looks occupied enough for me.

As far as I know he could be Airbnb'ing the place as a unique space, with cat. I've seen that kind of ad when we were staying in San Francisco. We could have stayed at this gal's Mission District studio apartment but we'd have to take care of her cats during our stay. I support Airbnb, I've used that platform as a guest and as a host, but mainly as a guest.

However, I digress.

It is unclear to me how the vacant thing works with commercial properties. And even more unclear as to how occupied a building needs to be. I'll have to stay beyond Happy Hour to see if the lights come on and there is more than a cat living upstairs.

Why no Vacant Sticker for 234 Florida Avenue NW?

First, I do not mean to pick on Mr. Behzad Hosseinkhan. I say this because I have criticized him before regarding another property (1721 4th St NW) when I was doing the Inshaw.com/blog blog. He seems to be a nice enough person.... So I feel sorta bad, but not bad enough to make an observation.
His property at 234 Florida Avenue has sat vacant long enough without paying the vacant tax rate. Don't let the sign outside fool you, in practice, it is not available. Back in 2012 two ladies thought of opening a wine bar at this location and they were to call it Snitcheye. But they were having difficulties with the owner, and the deal fell through. Word was the owner (I guess Mr. Hosseinkhani) was difficult. Residents were sad. We were sad because we wanted a wine bar and not have to cross Florida Avenue.
Okay fast forward to 2014 or accurately, 2015. A couple of people, mainly a brother and sister team and their gang of foodie friends (who already had a restaurant on H St NE) feasted their eyes upon the corner of 3rd and Florida. First they approached the owner of 234 FL Ave. That fell through, then they decided that the crumbly disaster of a building across the street at 300 Florida Avenue was a much better deal. The rumor with this was he wanted too much money for the space.
And lastly, I walked by a space on North Capitol where I knew the upper apartment space was occasionally occupied and the lower space was dealing with some ABRA/ permitting limbo issues, and it was slapped with one of those pretty yellow vacant stickers. So why not do the same with 234 Florida?
Okay the particulars. The owner used to live or still lives in DC, has owned the property for a while and the tax bill goes to a P.O. Box in 20009. PIVs says there are three permits associated with this address. The first one was issued in 2010 to repair windows and brick walls. The second in 2013 to make adjustments and dig out the basement. And the last one was a year later in 2014 for plumbing and gas.
To my knowledge nothing has been in that location since my residence in the Truxton Circle neighborhood. So let's say a little less than 15 years. It's been vacant long enough.

The Vacant lot at FL and Q has a Twitter hashtag

In my day we called them pound signs. The Bates Area Civic Association blog reported about the hashtag, regarding the September 8th meeting where two developers gave presentations regarding the vacant government owned property at Florida Ave and Q St NW. The hastag is #FlaQNW.

One of the developers has a email, (engage@fluxonflorida.com) but no website. The other developer was a bit more old school and had big posters of what they hoped to do on the site.

Florida and Q (Sq 0615, lots 75, 149, 152, etc) NW

This is old news, but the city is soliciting offers for several parcels of property owned by the District of Columbia, with the goal of making them into something useful. This includes the lots at Q and Florida Avenues NW, which is across the street from Joe Mamo's lot.
There was a hope to turn this sunny lot into a community garden, but the tide in the city seems to be turning away from green spaces to mixed use development.
Since the property is currently owned by the city, it pays no taxes, and as with the city, it takes a while for things to eventually get developed. Thankfully, it is not a school.
A quick look at the solicitation it appears the city wants a developer-buyer to create a mixed income and mixed use development, with the residential units being 51% affordable (residents at 80% AMI). Luckily, the city defines AMI (Area Median Income) with 1 person household earning $59,920, a 2 person household at $68,480, a 3 person household $77,040, 4 person $85,600 and so forth. The city wants it to be a LEED building, and there are other requirements that deal with the city.
According to the Department of Housing and Community Development developers have until October (10th or 24th) to submit proposal applications.