First Johnson's, now Sullivan's! Who is the landlord behind this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The PP is spot on.

Further - the Metro is not really an asset right now, to be honest. It has been attracting homeless folks and randoms - the Target smells like urine and tends to have sketchy folks in it on a regular basis adding to the dirty feel around that area.

People still aren’t ready to use the metro. And really - pre-Covid / was anyone saying “hey / let’s jump on the Red Line to Tenleytown for a night out!” / it never happened.

Our city needs day shelters. It has been using metro entrances, bust stops, big box store entrances. public libraries, and StarBucks and Grocery Store bathrooms for way too long to "house" and bathroom the homeless during the day. Does Friendship Place never open its doors or care to run a day shelter? They are so buzzy and supported in the neighborhood, yet the problems you mention above are persistent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The PP is spot on.

Further - the Metro is not really an asset right now, to be honest. It has been attracting homeless folks and randoms - the Target smells like urine and tends to have sketchy folks in it on a regular basis adding to the dirty feel around that area.

People still aren’t ready to use the metro. And really - pre-Covid / was anyone saying “hey / let’s jump on the Red Line to Tenleytown for a night out!” / it never happened.

"People" who?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not enough kids in upper NW DC to support a toy store. They can't even fill their schools there. That's why they need to have such a high number of out of bounds students at Wilson and Deal and Janney etc.

There are plenty of kids to fill Janney, Deal, and Wilson, it's just that many if not most of them are going to private schools instead.

Lack of kids isn't what closed Sullivan's, people are just getting their toys elsewhere, like online where it's cheaper and arrives at your door in hours. It's tough to compete against that kind of convenience.

I agree that people got lazy, but an effort could be made to save Sullivan's. People make a pointed effort to shop at Politics and Prose, because they don't want to wake up and see a void there. We need to save Sullivan's. And it doesn't sound like AU tapped into that, or they could totally have delegated some students to make a student project around saving Sullivan's. Zero imagination.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The PP is spot on.

Further - the Metro is not really an asset right now, to be honest. It has been attracting homeless folks and randoms - the Target smells like urine and tends to have sketchy folks in it on a regular basis adding to the dirty feel around that area.

People still aren’t ready to use the metro. And really - pre-Covid / was anyone saying “hey / let’s jump on the Red Line to Tenleytown for a night out!” / it never happened.

Our city needs day shelters. It has been using metro entrances, bust stops, big box store entrances. public libraries, and StarBucks and Grocery Store bathrooms for way too long to "house" and bathroom the homeless during the day. Does Friendship Place never open its doors or care to run a day shelter? They are so buzzy and supported in the neighborhood, yet the problems you mention above are persistent.

Our city needs public toilets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To support independent businesses in any industry you have to utilize them often. Competition with big chains is fierce. People know this but it’s so easy to not to do it.

Not true at all of Sullivan's. The place was always packed. Last minute birthday gifts, best art supply place in town - they had a good thing going. I don't fault this one on chain stores or Amazon. This is AU screwing them over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not enough kids in upper NW DC to support a toy store. They can't even fill their schools there. That's why they need to have such a high number of out of bounds students at Wilson and Deal and Janney etc.

You have no idea what you're talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is up with Tenleytown? I know that it was not an AU tenant but apparently Tenleytown could not even support a Starbucks on a prime metro location.

Gastropub closed and just sitting boarded up vacant.

Kitty O'Shea's just vacant.

I'm assuming by "gastropub" you mean Public Bar/Tenley Bar & Grill? It had zero to do with a lack of neighborhood support. They didn't want to close, the owner of the building sold to developers who were going to tear down that structure (and the Dancing Crab building) to put up condos. Those plans apparently fell through during the pandemic and now the buildings are up for sale again, complete with the two very valuable liquor licenses that once belonged to Public/Dancing Crab. Whatever is built there, expect two new bars to be part of it.

https://www.crexi.com/properties/479233/district-of-columbia-4611-41st-street-nw

Agreed. Public bar/gastro pub was making a killing and was closed in the name of vibrant density that would better serve DC/Tenleytown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not enough kids in upper NW DC to support a toy store. They can't even fill their schools there. That's why they need to have such a high number of out of bounds students at Wilson and Deal and Janney etc.

There are plenty of kids to fill Janney, Deal, and Wilson, it's just that many if not most of them are going to private schools instead.

Lack of kids isn't what closed Sullivan's, people are just getting their toys elsewhere, like online where it's cheaper and arrives at your door in hours. It's tough to compete against that kind of convenience.

I assume that the PP is being sarcastic, because all of those schools are either at capacity or overcrowded before the OOB students.

When I went to Deal and Wilson more than 50% of students were out of bounds. That was 20 years ago though so maybe things have changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not enough kids in upper NW DC to support a toy store. They can't even fill their schools there. That's why they need to have such a high number of out of bounds students at Wilson and Deal and Janney etc.

There are plenty of kids to fill Janney, Deal, and Wilson, it's just that many if not most of them are going to private schools instead.

Lack of kids isn't what closed Sullivan's, people are just getting their toys elsewhere, like online where it's cheaper and arrives at your door in hours. It's tough to compete against that kind of convenience.

I agree that people got lazy, but an effort could be made to save Sullivan's. People make a pointed effort to shop at Politics and Prose, because they don't want to wake up and see a void there. We need to save Sullivan's. And it doesn't sound like AU tapped into that, or they could totally have delegated some students to make a student project around saving Sullivan's. Zero imagination.

Creative singles and young professionals don’t care about Sullivan’s. If we’re going to attract vibrancy to Tenley aka DC Uptown, we need to rethink the existing paradigm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not enough kids in upper NW DC to support a toy store. They can't even fill their schools there. That's why they need to have such a high number of out of bounds students at Wilson and Deal and Janney etc.

There are plenty of kids to fill Janney, Deal, and Wilson, it's just that many if not most of them are going to private schools instead.

Lack of kids isn't what closed Sullivan's, people are just getting their toys elsewhere, like online where it's cheaper and arrives at your door in hours. It's tough to compete against that kind of convenience.

I agree that people got lazy, but an effort could be made to save Sullivan's. People make a pointed effort to shop at Politics and Prose, because they don't want to wake up and see a void there. We need to save Sullivan's. And it doesn't sound like AU tapped into that, or they could totally have delegated some students to make a student project around saving Sullivan's. Zero imagination.

Creative singles and young professionals don’t care about Sullivan’s. If we’re going to attract vibrancy to Tenley aka DC Uptown, we need to rethink the existing paradigm.

Exactly! No more mom and pop. Bring on the density and Amazon express stores, maybe a Bank of America and maybe a Valero's to ciu terpoint the Wawa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not enough kids in upper NW DC to support a toy store. They can't even fill their schools there. That's why they need to have such a high number of out of bounds students at Wilson and Deal and Janney etc.

There are plenty of kids to fill Janney, Deal, and Wilson, it's just that many if not most of them are going to private schools instead.

Lack of kids isn't what closed Sullivan's, people are just getting their toys elsewhere, like online where it's cheaper and arrives at your door in hours. It's tough to compete against that kind of convenience.

I assume that the PP is being sarcastic, because all of those schools are either at capacity or overcrowded before the OOB students.

When I went to Deal and Wilson more than 50% of students were out of bounds. That was 20 years ago though so maybe things have changed.

It’s less now. The amazing thing though was an estimate that maybe as high as 10 percent of the students reside in MD but pretend to have a DC address.

[Anonymous]

I am SUPER ANNOYED with American University, our ANC, Cheh, the Mayor, and GGW. Between them all, they are grinding this neighborhood to corporate dust.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not enough kids in upper NW DC to support a toy store. They can't even fill their schools there. That's why they need to have such a high number of out of bounds students at Wilson and Deal and Janney etc.

There are plenty of kids to fill Janney, Deal, and Wilson, it's just that many if not most of them are going to private schools instead.

Lack of kids isn't what closed Sullivan's, people are just getting their toys elsewhere, like online where it's cheaper and arrives at your door in hours. It's tough to compete against that kind of convenience.

I agree that people got lazy, but an effort could be made to save Sullivan's. People make a pointed effort to shop at Politics and Prose, because they don't want to wake up and see a void there. We need to save Sullivan's. And it doesn't sound like AU tapped into that, or they could totally have delegated some students to make a student project around saving Sullivan's. Zero imagination.

Creative singles and young professionals don’t care about Sullivan’s. If we’re going to attract vibrancy to Tenley aka DC Uptown, we need to rethink the existing paradigm.

Exactly! No more mom and pop. Bring on the density and Amazon express stores, maybe a Bank of America and maybe a Valero's to ciu terpoint the Wawa.

It's so weird that people think density=bland. Except for outliers like Navy Yard that were created from scratch a few years ago, the densest parts of DC are the ones with the most local character - U St, Capitol Hill, Petworth, etc. The parts of DC that are nothing but bland chain stores are the suburban parts like Tenleytown. More population in a smaller area means more people and more money to support more stores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The PP is spot on.

Further - the Metro is not really an asset right now, to be honest. It has been attracting homeless folks and randoms - the Target smells like urine and tends to have sketchy folks in it on a regular basis adding to the dirty feel around that area.

People still aren’t ready to use the metro. And really - pre-Covid / was anyone saying “hey / let’s jump on the Red Line to Tenleytown for a night out!” / it never happened.

Our city needs day shelters. It has been using metro entrances, bust stops, big box store entrances. public libraries, and StarBucks and Grocery Store bathrooms for way too long to "house" and bathroom the homeless during the day. Does Friendship Place never open its doors or care to run a day shelter? They are so buzzy and supported in the neighborhood, yet the problems you mention above are persistent.

Our city needs public toilets.

Our city needs mental institutions and drug rehabilitation centers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not enough kids in upper NW DC to support a toy store. They can't even fill their schools there. That's why they need to have such a high number of out of bounds students at Wilson and Deal and Janney etc.

There are plenty of kids to fill Janney, Deal, and Wilson, it's just that many if not most of them are going to private schools instead.

Lack of kids isn't what closed Sullivan's, people are just getting their toys elsewhere, like online where it's cheaper and arrives at your door in hours. It's tough to compete against that kind of convenience.

I agree that people got lazy, but an effort could be made to save Sullivan's. People make a pointed effort to shop at Politics and Prose, because they don't want to wake up and see a void there. We need to save Sullivan's. And it doesn't sound like AU tapped into that, or they could totally have delegated some students to make a student project around saving Sullivan's. Zero imagination.

When I’ve visited Sullivan’s in person the last few months, I’ve asked each time what’s happening because the shelves were bare, etc - each time I was told that AU has made rents unaffordable but that Sullivan’s had already identified a number of possible new sites and would certainly end up re-opening there. I wish they’d actually told people they were in trouble…(more of) an effort probably would have been made if the community had known. Also, I know that our family as well as another on our street continued ordering from Sullivan’s for delivery throughout the pandemic.