Frager’s Hardware makes deal to Reopen in its Original Location on Capitol Hill!!!

11th and Pennsylvania Ave, SE June 5th 2013

From a press release:

“Frager’s Hardware of Capitol Hill is pleased to announce that it has partnered with Roadside Development, LLC a Washington, DC-based real estate company, to rebuild its original store and reopen its home of nearly 100 years. The neighborhood institution was located at 1101-1117 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE until it was gutted by fire in June 2013. Frager’s Hardware (Frager’s) opened at this spot in 1920 but has operated over the past year out of three temporary locations throughout Capitol Hill.

After an in-depth search for a partner to help redevelop the site, John Weintraub, longtime owner and operator of this neighborhood small business, selected Roadside Development, LLC. Roadside will purchase the site and Frager’s will return under a long-term lease, which will enable Frager’s to bring back the store’s hardware, paint, garden center, and equipment rental operations to its original location as part of a sensitive neighborhood retail and residential development in the Capitol Hill Historic District.

“We are grateful for the overwhelming support and patience from our loyal customers and the Capitol Hill community as we evaluated our options to restore the original site,” said John Weintraub, Frager’s owner. “Over the past year, we studied the site extensively, removed environmentally sensitive materials, conducted several structural analyses, and evaluated the costs to rebuild the site. We learned that the fire damaged the site so severely that, even with insurance proceeds, we could not afford to rebuild the site alone.”

Frager’s retained Fern Barrueta and Robert Bryan of Colliers International to manage the solicitation and evaluation of offers and concepts to redevelop the site. “We sought out a development partner with a history of developing high-quality projects that would appreciate the unique history of the site and the store’s relationship to the community, and a partner that would welcome our return to the site in a new Frager’s Hardware Store,” said Weintraub. “Roadside’s values, approach to incorporating community input, and quality of their past projects convinced us that they were the best partner for Frager’s and the community.”

Roadside has a successful track record of adaptively reusing notable buildings into unique retail environments including City Market at O and Cityline at Tenley in Washington, DC. The design of both projects incorporated historic structures and preserved key historic and architectural elements and facades.

“We understand how important local businesses are to the integrity of a neighborhood. We are truly honored to partner with the Weintraubs to return Frager’s to its original home,” said Richard Lake, Founding Partner of Roadside Development, LLC. Lake comes from a family of merchants that operated neighborhood retail businesses in Washington, DC. We look forward to working with the Capitol Hill community in the planning and the redevelopment of this key building into the existing fabric of the neighborhood,” said Lake.

Roadside and Frager’s intend to preserve the existing Pennsylvania Avenue and 11th Street facades. Accordingly, contractors and other consultants will conduct limited immediate repairs to the site as well as perform testing over the next few months to inform the preservation approach and identify future development opportunities and constraints.

Roadside is committed to actively engaging the community for their input throughout the design process. Beginning in the next few weeks, Frager’s and Roadside plan to attend or host meetings and conversations throughout the community. They also welcome feedback at any time via email at [email protected] or by phone at 202-375-7942. Roadside has also indicated that they have no plans for a zoning change.

Frager’s will continue to operate out of temporary quarters established until the development is complete, including a winter relocation of its Garden Store to a new site, which is just starting construction now at 1230 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE. This will allow for a seamless transition for the community and the employees. According to Weintraub, the overwhelming support and encouragement from the local community has been instrumental to enabling Frager’s to sustain its temporary operations as it planned for the future. “We could not have made it this far if not for the support and patience of the community, the District government, and most of all our employees,” said Weintraub.”

1100 block of Pennsylvania Ave, SE