Reader Scuttlebutt Confirmed: 20 Condos and a 7-11 Coming to 14th and Quincy St, NW

by Prince Of Petworth February 10, 2014 at 1:30 pm 56 Comments

3707_14th
Rendering of 3707 14th Street, NW via Zusin Development

Back in April ’13 when we spoke about the old C&K Motel getting demoed a reader commented:

“I spoke with the developer the day they were demolishing the building. He said 20 condos. He said the retail space on the 1st floor would be a 7-11. He said they were improving the neighborhood. A 7-11 sounds like a bad improvement to me, I hope it doesn’t hurt the local corner stores.”

Elevation DC now confirms:

“Zusin is in the process of selecting a contractor to build out the new structure, which will be four floors of condominiums above a 7-11 convenience store.”

Stay tuned.

3707 14th Street, NW is located across the street from Red Derby and the soon to be Lyman’s Tavern and Taqueria Habanero. So while the 7-11 is less than exciting, there’s still a couple more good things coming to the area.

Here’s what the space looked like at the start of demo back in April:

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 9.31.52 AM

Anonymous

Great… another 7-11. Just what the neighborhood needs. Now we’ll have another source of chicken bones…
- Anonymous
  
  Well, if you’ve read some of the comments about what people want from their “corner stores” — a nice, clean 7-11 would actually seem to fit the bill. And, while many of the corner store owners likely would have serious trouble financing upgrades, 7-11 can probably handle it just fine.
  - Anonymous
    
    Most 7-11’s are owned by local franchisees. I’m sure they get some breaks from being part of the corporate structure compared to a truly independently owned shop, but they are often local businesses in that sense.
- Anonymous
  
  agree
amber

So many options for first floor retail and bummed to hear it’s a 7-11. A local coffee shop would have been welcomed…
- Anonymous
  
  7-11 sells coffee.
  
  and lots of other things.
Anonymous

I agree, 7-11 is so not ideal. And this building looks so separated from the street. Why no windows at all on the 1st floor? Why that strange grass ramp? People are just going to hang out there and the grass will be dead anyway. The building’s design needs to be more integrated with the street, on both 14th and on Quincy.
Anonymous

Hello $5.55 pizza!
- anon
  
  and bacon, egg and cheese taquitos the morning after too many drinks. and they say DC doesn’t have good Mexican food.
- different anon
  
  I have to say I’ve gotten into the $5.55 pizza too.
Anonymous

Very suburban looking…
Anonymous

why cant we have anything nice?
- Prince Of Petworth
  
  If only a cool tavern would fix up and open up in the former laundromat across the street…
  - wobber
    
    In only a couple weeks, right POP?
    The contractor took me on a short tour last weekend. Things are looking great! The proposed patio will be great if the sun ever comes out again.
- Anonymous
  
  Because you/we wait around for someone else to finance “nice” business and take on the associated risks of opening and sustaining a new business?
Corey Smith

this is the appoitomy of what should never ever happen. Horrible building the most generic cookie cutter thing iv seen in a while, on top of a 7-11?! Wow great now this area can be like the one in columbia heights..aka dirty. Feel bad for whoever has to look at this eye sore.
- Anonymous
  
  Appoitomy – yikes
- Lisa
  
  Spelling aside, agree wholeheartedly, except the comparison to CH with which I am not familiar.
anon

I used to feel negative toward 7-11, and was less than thrilled when one opened in a formerly vacant storefront near where I used to live. But I guess now I feel that if there has to be a corner-store-type institution, better it be a 7-11 than a place where the staff are behind plexiglass.
- Wobble
  
  I agree. I haven’t bought anything in a 7-11 for probably 20 years. However, there is at least some corporate control of standards that are higher than many “corner stores”. Also, it is much less likely to be used for nefarious activities like money laundering.
  
  I know that many Popvillagers don’t like anything that smacks of suburbia, but I think most of the urban 7-11s around are basically a “plus”.
  
  Building is pretty generic — meh?? However, at least it probably won’t be a whore-house — like some people alleged the old structure was. (I don’t know whether that was true.)
  
  20 condos will raise the density of the neighborhood – an inevitability for DC, with its increasing popluation – good for retail variety and safetry (I hope), bad for parking.
  
  Change happens
  - Anonymous
    
    Well, there was that whole thing about many 7-11s, including some in VA, being raided for their involvement in identity theft and immigration violations. I think they might be MORE likely to be used for money laundering than a single store, because an owner might own several, etc.
    .
    But I agree that some 7-11s really do serve the corner store needs of their neighborhood. The newly expanded one on P St in Georgetown (not the new one opening this week, the one that expanded about a year ago) has a reasonable selection of groceries along with the taquitos and slurpees.
Anonymous

What is it going to take to get a Wawa in this town???
- Anonymous
  
  I just came here to say the same thing!
- ash
  
  A miracle! Seriously, I’ve only seen Wawas at rest stops/off the turnpike/I-95 whatever. Do they usually open up shop in residential areas/neighborhoods? I ask this out of ignorance. I’m from the south. No Wawas down there. But I was introduced to them a few years ago and OMG who knew such goodness could come from a gas station!
  - Anonymous
    
    Yeah, they’re all over Pennsylvania and NJ, sometimes with gas, sometimes without. Often with a deli counter where you can get a proper hoagie on good bread, made fresh to your specifications. Also, soft pretzels filled with sweet cream cheese.
  - Anonymous
    
    The only one I know about is one that was/is in New Haven, CT — it was definitely in a densely urban setting.
  - Anonymous
    
    I think a Wawa with gas would do extremely well in one of the empty lots near 11th and M Streets SE. Lots of traffic coming on and off the highways there, and it would be a place for the people working at Maritime Plaza and Navy Yard to grab lunch. Wishful thinking though.
  - Anonymous
    
    Here’s their requirements for new sites:
    
    Preferred:
    Lot size of approximately 2 acres, sufficient for standard prototype layout
    Building size of approximately 4,000-6,000 square feet
    Parking for 50-60 cars
    Accommodates 8 multiproduct fuel dispensers (MPDs).
    
    Other size sites may be considered:
    Lot size of no less than 1 acre
    Building size of a minimum of 4,000 square feet
    Parking for 40 cars
    Accommodates 6 multiproduct fuel dispensers (MPDs)
    
    If there’s a 1-2 acre lot available in DC, it’s probably in some place that doesn’t have the traffic, residential, and daytime population they require.
    - Anonymous
      
      There’s a Wawa near the heart of old town Williamsburg, VA that has no gas station attached. It’s just a convenience store and the sandwich station. So they definitely do make Wawa’s without the gas station.
      .
      I think the more pressing issue is getting a DC version supplied. Do the supply lines exist/are they flexible enough to keep them regularly stocked? My guess is that if they do come into the city, they will open multiple Wawas at the same time to achieve economies of scale.
      - Anonymous
        
        I can think of dozens near my hometown that don’t have gas stations. I don’t think any of them had gas originally. But all the new ones seem to.
- Anonymous
  
  I actually met a guy who works in Wawa corporate and asked him this very question. His answer was disappointing: while they’re keeping existing stores, any new ones have to be the kind with a huge footprint and many gas pumps. Kind of totally at odds with walkability and peoples’ desire to move into cities.
  - Anonymous
    
    🙁
  - Anonymous
    
    Interesting. That says a lot about the future of the suburbs (i.e. they’re going to get a lot poorer).
    - Anonymous
      
      I’m not following this correlation. Can you explain?
Anonymous

Listen folks… It could be worse. 7-11 not ideal, but I believe there is also another condo unit going up across the street on Quincy. If they rent to capacity, they could help spur development in the area. People come from miles around for Red Derby. There is a new bar going in next to them too. I’m perplexed why a decent restaurant wouldn’t want to take a chance on that area. It has limitless potential.
- Anony
  
  “limitless potential” might be a stretch given one needs to consider high rents that crappy buildings are holding out for at the moment, a changing but still uncertain local market for a nicer restaurant, low success rates of new restaurants, it would serve mostly the neighborhood besides a few folks who travel for the Red Derby since it is pretty far north, etc…
- Anony
  
  “limitless potential” might be a stretch given one needs to consider high rents that crappy buildings are holding out for at the moment, a changing but still uncertain local market for a nicer restaurant, low success rates of new restaurants, it would serve mostly the neighborhood besides a few folks who travel for the Red Derby since it is pretty far north, etc…
Anonymous

Where else are people going to get cigarettes?
Thought

Zusin: If you are reading this, note that the community does not want a 7-11, but something that isn’t such a blight. I would be reluctant to buy a condo or rent in a building that has a 7-11, and I’m sure others feel the same.

Might I suggest getting a different tenant? Any loss in rent would certainly be made up by an increase in people willing to rent or buy your condos.
- Anonymous
  
  Thanks for speaking for the community, Mayor Thought. I think the development looks decent and 7-11 is OK.
Anonymous

I live very close to this corner in Quincy. We prefer this building and not having the ugly CK hotel with all the prostitutes and drug dealer that were hanging around the corner. I of course would something diferent than a 7-11.
- saf
  
  OK, the people were not the most desirable neighbors. But the building was FAR nicer than this.
  .
  I really wish I had some money. I wanted to buy it and turn it into a B&B.
UglyIsUgly

Forget the 7-11 for a moment–can we talk about how awful that building is? Is a little architectural detail asking too much?
- Anonymous
  
  The Quincy side is awful and completely ignores engaging the street. That side could also use some balconies (even the faux ones) to give it some kind of character.
andy

If you have a realistic alternative tenant, mention it here. People read PoPville!
Anonymous

Ours it not a culture that cherishes aesthetics or quality. Cheap convenience is what we crave and a 7-11 with cheaply fabricated condos above with fake bricks fits the bill. Residents wont even have to leave the building to get their sundries.

The condos above the new safeway at Randolph & Georgia is a wooden structure. How long do you think that will last?
Anonymous

The 7-11 on 17th Street around DuPont hasn’t lead to a parade of horrors. This seems overblown to me.
Anon

I think 7-11 isn’t so bad. It’s clean and it’s convenient for little things. 14th and Quincy isn’t such an underserved neighborhood that anyone is going to rely on this store for extensive groceries or other retail, so it’s just a convenience store. As far as convenience stores go, 7-11 is just fine.
debra

wish that they builder would have kept to the style of surrounding row houses, might be a more welcome sight to the neighborhood. 7-11 doesn’t thrill me as that is going to leave us more trash to pick up on our street as people munch on their take-out “treats”. a coffee place, bistro style dinning might have been better choice. at least it isn’t another hair salon, or taco joint. we have more than enough of those already.
Anonymous

I think the commercial rents have gone up through the roof on that stretch of 14th – why the laundry closed. I seriously would love to see Herman’s liquor (I know there are sketchy people that hang there, but the owner is a GEM) and the family from French’s Cleaner stay. I love the owners of the grocery next to Carolina’s but they have it up for sale and so is Carolina’s. If someone wants to come in and buy those to spaces and combine them into a coffee shop/bistro, you have all my support. I live around the corner and love to see this area thrive, so long as the excellent storefronts who have served the community can stay. I like the Red Derby early on weeknights and am looking forward to Lyman’s. Hopefully the taqueria will have veggie options (I haven’t been to distrito federal in a few years because of the lack of vegetarian options, has that changed?).
Anonymous

I have to agree this building is damn ugly, when I saw the photo I though it was some kind of public housing project. This realestate market is so over heated you could but a trailer park on that lot and charge 2k a month, so this is not surprising.
Anonymous

All these people bemoaning a 7-11 coming to their neighborhood will be down there picking up their PBR, Parliament Lights and quarter pound Big Bites in no time, even if they won’t admit it!
- 7-11 Fan
  
  I used to live in the Carlyle neighborhood of Old Town Alexandria – in a building one block south of Whole Foods, and one block north of a 7-11. They both served a need. This 7-11 was very nice, clean, well-stocked, and well lit. I hardly think it will attract the ne’er-do-wells that many on here seem to be fearing. I got my organic whatever’s at Whole Foods, and my Crap-the-TV-remote-stopped-working batteries at 7-11. I loved being within walking distance of both places. Though the condos above are hideous!!!
Anonymous

How amazing would it be if that was a Trader Joe’s instead. *wishful thinking*
dcloafer

As someone who may be in the market to buy in a couple years, I’m just glad the condos weren’t described as “luxury.” If they’re decently constructed and affordable, I could deal with some less-than-stellar external aesthetics.
Nathan

Buy a condo over top of a 7-11? No thanks.

Subscribe to our mailing list