Reply to Foxtrot Closing All DC Stores

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I popped into the Dupont store from time to time, hope the staff can find other jobs quickly.

There are so many stores in DC, [b]wonder how long the spaces will be vacant[/b]? Lots of vacant retail already in Dupont.

Seems like the merger and rapid expansion was ill advised. Wonder if the Adams Morgan shop will be slow to get a new business? [/quote]

As long as the landlord wants. Commercial landlords in DC often let desirable properties lay fallow for decades as tax write offs. The Council needs to disincentive this practice. It harms commercial sectors and the neighborhoods that rely on them.[/quote]

+1000, so many vacant store fronts that absolutely could be filled. Also, this practice artificially inflates rents in DC because they'll slap some absurdly high rent on a spot with a "for lease" sign in order to claim they are looking for a tenant, but the rent will be too high for even a successful business to afford it and turn a profit. But those artificially high rents become part of the market for commercial spaces, and it enables everyone to charge more. It's a real issue.

I have numerous friends and acquaintances who have wound out of DC with restaurants and storefronts because of this. They'll look at spaces that have been vacant for almost a decade, don't have a legal bathroom, and the landlord is "take it or leave it" with a rent 3x what they'd pay in Old Town or Silver Spring, both of which also get lots of foot traffic.

Those rents contribute to inflation on everything from drinks to sandwiches to childcare, btw.

People will scream at me but I sometimes think DC should set a market rent. You could charge above it if you wanted, but if you had a vacant space going for a certain percentage over the market rate, you'd have to pay extra taxes.[/quote]

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