Tax Bill Threatens to Shutter Warehouse Complex
The Warehouse considers itself a home for Washington’s artists. When Metro Cafe on 14th Street closed its doors in 2002, Warehouse created a space for live music. When Visions Cinema Bistro Lounge in Dupont Circle folded in 2004, the Warehouse opened a screening room. And just yesterday, when artist J.T. Kirkland thought he was going to have to cancel Supple, a show featuring 11 visual artists, due to conflicts with the owners of The Space at 903 N St. NW, the Warehouse offered him two galleries for his show. “This will be more than enough to hang Supple and I am excited about the opportunity,” Kirkland wrote in an e-mail release.
“A lot of it is being connected to the Washington art scene and finding out what the need is,” says co-owner Paul Ruppert. But like so many of the artists it has hosted over the years, the Warehouse itself might soon be hunting for a home.
In an e-mail distributed to “friends and supporters” yesterday, Ruppert and his mother Molly, who co-owns the 7th Street arts complex, wrote:
Bad news in the mail last month - Warehouse property taxes for next year are increasing over 500%.
Needless to say, this is a huge blow to our precarious business model.
What does this mean for the Warehouse? We’re not sure.
- We have begun the appeal process.
- We are committed to maintaining our current operations through the Fringe Festival in July.
- It is possible that we will be able to operate into the fall and beyond.
- We are considering a move of all or part of the Warehouse to another location.
According to Ruppert, the property tax hike has to with “a number of high-priced sales in the neighborhood,” which is wedged between Gallery Place and Shaw. He says “the taxes are just part of all the pressures we face.” For a while now, mother and son have been wondering whether the Mount Vernon Square location, nestled in the shadow of the “shiny” Convention Center, is the best place for the arts complex, which includes two black box theaters, a gallery devoted to presenting emerging artists, a music venue, a screening room, and a cafe. The neighborhood may not be “ideal for the edgy art we specialize in,” Ruppert says, adding that “all options are open.”
One option is to relocate the complex, Ruppert says, either as a whole or in pieces, and rent out the space on 7th Street. For example, it might make more sense for the Warehouse’s music venue to move to 14th or U streets, which already host a vibrant live music scene, he says. Or they might leave the area altogether. “The sale of the building is a real possibility,” Ruppert says.
But leaving the stretch of 7th Street would be a significant shift for the family, who has owned the property since the 1880s. Ruppert Hardware operated there until 1987, Ruppert says, when Metro construction and competition diminished foot traffic in the area and slashed profits. In 1992, the mother-son duo opened Rupperts Restaurant. In 1994, they started hosting art shows. Plays premiered in a small black box theater 11 years ago, and the cafe opened four years ago. And yet, despite all the artsy activity, or perhaps because of it, Ruppert says, the Warehouse loses money every year. For that reason, he says, the tax increase isn’t “a sudden blow. It’s been this gradual challenge since we started the Warehouse,” adding that the taxes might just be a “tipping point to move on to whatever is next.”
17 Responses to “Tax Bill Threatens to Shutter Warehouse Complex”
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April 24th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
Thanks for nothing, Convention Center.
April 24th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
it’d be nice if the warehouse would accept debit or credit cards. times i’ve been there without cash have cut down on the amount i would have spent to help out the cause.
April 25th, 2007 at 1:29 am
warehouse is one of the only cool things going on that strip.
April 25th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Interesting story and thanks to City Paper for capturing the behind the scenes about the family. Quite a history to have owned that building for so many years.
After reading that I guess my sympathies are dampened since they’ve been aware of the money losing operation. I’ve only been once but I feel as though a relocation would fit better. Right now it’s more of a destination point versus a place that fits well into a neighborhood.
I bet this place would see a lot more traffic if it was over on 9th street. Then it could come into the fold as a neighborhood place to hang out and also be a destination for the art/music scene. Of course there space now gives them the opportunity to be able to do everything and a relocation would probably change that in terms of square footage available to them.
April 25th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
A couple of years ago I curated “Seven” for the WPA/C and it took place in seven of the eight gallery spaces that Warehouse hosts in the buildings built and owned by the Ruppert family for many, many decades. In the process I got to know its owners, Molly and Paul Ruppert, quite well.
Molly Ruppert is an independent, feisty, hardworking person with a kind, open heart that nonetheless is able to integrate business and kindness with a sharp art savvy personality and an indefatigable sense of community. Together with Paul, they are a hands-on business model that make up the main workforce at Warehouse, be it as bar tenders, waiters, gallerist or theatre managers (they do have an excellent chef!). And yet, the Warehouse is not a money-making operation.
But she and Paul and their buildings are an asset and an important part of the cultural tapestry that makes up the Greater Washington, DC area art scene.
While I was curating “Seven,” Molly and I discussed the surrounding neighborhood, and the important cultural contribution that I felt Warehouse had added by retaining a little cultural DNA for a neighborhood that was almost swallowed whole by the huge Washington Convention Center.
Not that I think that the Convention Center is a bad thing; in fact it is a great asset economically to Washington and to the neighborhood, but a neighborhood also needs places like Warehouse to remain alive, and not just become another soul-less block of cookie cutter businesses and franchises.
In discussing the surrounding buildings, Molly confided in me that she was bleak about the future of her property, and that she had already turned down several offers from developers to buy her family buildings. However, she suspected that once these developers got the ear of the city administrators, she would be forced out of the neighborhood.
“How can they force you out?”, I asked.
She answered by telling me that she suspected that at some point the city would double or triple her property taxes, effectively making it financially impossible for Ruppert to continue her business model or even ownership of the spaces.
And it is brutally ironic that at the same time that we’re all congratulating Molly Ruppert’s sense of community for stepping up and saving J.T. Kirkland’s “Supple” project, we get the news that Warehouse property taxes for next year are increasing over 500%!
A 500% property tax hike is an obscene tax hike no matter who or what for, but especially in a city such as Washington, DC, which owes so much of its revitalization to private industry and to hard-working small businesses like the Warehouse.
I am not sure what “we” can all do, but I have a few ideas, and the first one is for organizations such as the Washington Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and the Cultural Alliance of Greater DC, and other such cultural organizations and entities of the capital region to step up and use whatever contacts or networks they have to make sure that (as I suspect), in the same way that some developer got the “ear” of some city politician, that these organizations in turn get the “ear” of some political allies (or even get Hizzoner’s ear) to ensure that this obscene tax hike gets reviewed and reduced or eliminated, and Warehouse afforded a chance to remain in place as one of DC’s leading cultural icons.
Kudos to Gould and the WCP for breaking this story!
April 25th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
warehouse is one of the only cool things going on that strip.
Warehouse is one of the only cool things going on in this town. If they close their doors it will be a shame, but here’s hoping they sell it for a mint and open another shop somewhere within the District.
April 25th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
Molly Ruppert is a firecracker. To lose her and Paul and the Warehouse is something that…well it’s something I don’t want to fathom.
As this city (and really, the world) becomes more homodginized (because let’s face it- it’s happening everywhere. Been to London recently?), it’s important to have these multi-disciplenary spaces for artists to test waters. Without these incubators, art and culture will flee to spaces that are more welcoming and offer the room for cultural expansion (Philadelphia 8-9 years ago anyone?)
To see how Philadelphia’s art scene has grown in the past decade is amazing. And spaces like Gallery 1026 and (the now defunct in the space-specific sense) SPECTOR Gallery help to really get foothold in the recognition.
To think that people might shun the Warehouse because of the inconvienience of a cash bar, is sad. I’m not saying it wouldn’t make things easier, but think about your route to the Warehouse. How many ATMs do you pass? There are two around the corner at the NPR building alone.
The Rupperts have done a lot (if I could underscore that 6 times I would) for the DC art scene and DC artists. Now it’s time to give back.
Paul and Molly, I salute and support you. What ever you need me to do, I’m ready.
April 26th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
There is NOTHING normal about a 500% tax increase in one year. BTW the entire block is subject to this and several independent businesses are threatened.
April 26th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
Burn luxury condoes!!!
April 26th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
Looking around the neighborhood, I’ve got to ask: why don’t the Rupperts form a church?
April 26th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
They have the money. Do you really think their “cash only” transactions are being recorded or reported?
April 26th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
If Molly Ruppert donated a historic preservation easement on her property, would that erase the development potential of her property and knock her property tax assessment back down?
April 26th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
Man, DC Living, you got some balls accusing of tax evasion well-loved business owners with 100-year-plus roots in the neighborhood. Oh wait, you’re anonymous–never mind about the balls…
April 27th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
[...] Gallery: Show your solidarity for the venue and its longtime owners by checking out Saturday’s “Freeform Bash,”¯ billed on the Web site as an [...]
April 30th, 2007 at 10:53 am
The ruppert’s are such an asset to our community lets be smart and allow them to enrich
it and and have awonderful space downtown and not make this a cookie cutter area.
May 6th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
Ask yourself why has the cafe been empty all these years?
Let’s be honest- the cafe is utter crap. Horrible coffee, dessert items that are so-so and uncomfortable seats. I’m liberal as it gets, but I have no love for a business that can’t survive by doing simple stuff right.
Look at Tryst, hell- look at any decent cafe in town. Then ask yourself why the Warehouse Cafe side should exist? Oh wait..the galleries.
August 20th, 2007 at 11:14 am
[...] it was quite distressing to hear that revisions in neighborhood tax assessments had raised the complexā€™s property tax bill 500%, making it all but impossible for the Warehouse [...]