Ohio Restaurant Waits for Its Future on H Street NE
Young & Hungry's colleague, Housing Complex's Lydia DePillis, writes this week about H Street NE and how the commercial corridor's future is holding back its present. As a side dish, DePillis takes a look at a recognizable corner, 14th and H streets, where the former Ohio Restaurant sits vacant:
The Ohio Restaurant, the strip's easternmost outpost, has been closed since 2006 since a member of the Ethiopian family that had been serving soul food there was killed in Northern Virginia. A guy named Greg Nickles bought it for $375,000 in 2008, started fixing up the interior, and put it on the market in October for a hefty $10,000 per month.
The H Street restaurant market is hot, as evidenced by permits and ABRA placards in many a vacant building, and brokers who say they've got even more deals coming. But it's not strong enough to support that kind of money for a 3,500 square foot space that still needs work. Leasing agent Charlie Papadopoulos tells me they've just dropped the price down to $7,500 to attract more interest, or about $25 per square foot–which, if you can expect to make between $1 million and $2 million in sales every year, is pretty reasonable.
It's a good corner. We'll see what takes its place.
Google Maps image of 14th and H streets NE
4:36 pm
Seriously - a google Map photo? Is that what we're reduced to these days. I mean, D90 or X2 and a camera .. is that too much to ask?
6:18 am
I hope something happens here soon. There is an excellent opportunity for a unique diner-style restaurant here-- could be a DC landmark if the right person with the right vision takes hold.