“Any word on this plot? Condo’d?”

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by Prince Of Petworth — September 15, 2016 at 2:50 pm 11 Comments

“Dear PoPville,

The old auto body garage [J and N Auto Body] on Kalorama next to Champlain closed last week. Over the weekend, the sidewalk was littered with furniture and old files from the garage (this disappeared within days). In the last few days, this fencing had appeared on the lot.

Any word on this plot? Condo’d?”

textdoc

The OTR database doesn’t show a sale for this property (1731 Kalorama Rd NW) more recent than 2002. PIVS doesn’t show any permits issued.
- GBinCH
  
  I was about to say the same thing. I’m surprised a property like this hasn’t been grabbed by a developer yet.
- Anonymous
  
  DCRA’s Accela system (http://acaprod.dcra.dc.gov/dcrapublicprod1/Cap/CapHome.aspx?module=Building) has a couple of Surveyor’s Requests from earlier this year, which is a sign that development could possibly be coming. Nothing recorded with the ROD. Public records are fun.
  - textdoc
    
    I didn’t know anything about that system — thanks for the tip!
Rich

Didn’t an estate thing or bankruptcy that started all this? May still be held up in Court or some other legal limbo.
AdMo

The property has long been owned by Adams Investment Group, but no word on what they’re planning to do: http://adamsinvestment.com/properties/1731-kalorama-road

No permits posted, and nothing is before the ANC (though I believe they are looking into it/as curious as we are).
- Anonymous
  
  Ah, these guys? The Moda 17 sucks so hard. They could have done something really cool with that building and instead they chopped it up into 400 sq foot 1BR apartments that barely get any light and are trying to sell them at $800+ sq/foot. They feel like micro-apartments in Tokyo, but in a really bad way. Insane.
  - INWDC
    
    Yeah I was in one of those recently…they are definitely micro apartments – the finishes seemed nice enough but you have know you’re getting a micro apartment (which may or may not be optimally configured for the tiny space).
    - Anonymous
      
      We live nearby, but were sort of suckered into walking through them. None of their online listings have the square footage. And then we saw them and were like no effing way in hell can two people with actual stuff live here. Most living “rooms” in the Moda 17 would hold no larger than a two person love seat. It’s impossible to have a dinner party.
      I’m not exactly sure who the target demo is for these places, but I think the vast majority are still empty after 6 months of the building being on the market. They are definitely just high-end dorm rooms (though my NYU dorm was actually bigger than these).
  - anon
    
    Except you’re actually across from the smelly and loud Harris Teeter loading dock, and would have to jump over puddles of garbage juice on your way home
Adams Morgan

I saw it getting raided last Monday (Sept 12th) by police in tactical gear who had all the employees lined up and in hand cuffs. The police also towed all the cars and put up the fence. All was normal around 7AM and then when I walked by around 8:30/9AM, police were there and cars were gone with my tow trucks waiting. Unclear what department the police were from but they were in civilian attire with brown tactical vests with police written all over.

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