June 26, 2007
Go Home Already: You Can't Stop Progress
>> Ben's Chili Bowl is set to expand. [Examiner]
>> Tickets to see David Beckham play with the L.A. Galaxy versus D.C. United go on sale Monday. [SoccerInsider]
>> Deputy Mayor for Education Victor Reinoso was robbed of his briefcase, cellphone and wallet at gunpoint last night in Takoma. Reinoso was uninjured and his briefcase was later recovered, but he had a hard time gaining access to the Wilson Building this morning without ID. [WaPo]
>> Providence Hospital and parts of Catholic University had little to no water pressure most of the morning, but WASA has since confirmed that it discovered a partially closed valve on a large 36-inch water line that was to blame for the problems. [AP via WJLA]
Photo by psychofarm
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I don't want another Ben's right next door, I want one conveniently located on H St.
As long as they don't mess with the original Ben's, I don't really care what they open next door. I'm just hoping that Ben's can survive considering how much the neighborhood has changed.
i wish ben's well. it has become harder to actually get into the aforementioned; one has to know when tourists are at a relative minimum..
it's kinda become a theme park, but-whattyagonnado?
Ben's is shite. Has been for a long time. Overpriced shite at that. It has become a theme park, living off a name and word of mouth. The fare is no better than your average street vendor.
I was robbed at gunpoint in Takoma, too, back in November. The guy was obviously on crack (eyes bulging out, hands shaking, all hunched over). People should be careful in Takoma at night -- it's not just bead shops and lesbians with greyhounds.
Seems like they have to expand, if Ben's is supposed to pay their $1.1 million in city taxes. And the article said the new joint was going to be "upscale lounge." WTF eats chili dogs in an upscale lounge? Unless their idea of lounge includes lobster bibs and kiddie wading pools, I'll pass.
And I'm with hillrat, they need to open on H Street. They could get a sweet deal on the linoleum counters and stools when Waffle Shop goes out of business.
I read that Ben's was having a hard time making ends meet in terms of paying property taxes and whatnot? Whatever happened to that? Did they get some property tax relief from the city?
I appreciate the history of Ben's and that it's a rare example of a private business surviving in the big bad city, but the food, prices, and service are all bad. I was psyched that they had veggie chili; not so psyched to pay $5 for a few ounces of it. Staff was glacially slow, and not very friendly. And this was at 9:30 on a Tuesday evening - not terribly busy. But still, props for the veggie options. Just cut those prices to appropriately match the vibe/atmosphere. This isn't effing Clyde's (which makes me happy).
Yes, they got their assessment reduced significantly. A lot of businesses have seen their property taxes increase by double-digit/year amounts. It's driving out traditional neighborhood serving (low-margin) uses.
In other words, goodbye retail/service, hello entertainment.
I don't even bother with Ben's anymore, since I read that City Paper article and found the butcher in Eastern Market sells the same brand of halfsmokes. I can have the Ben's experience at home, for a lot less than $5.75 a pop and with real chili.
Nice that they got a tax break. I bet all the other small businesses who DIDN'T get a tax break are real happy about that. Of course, they'll go out of business, be replaced by cruddy chains, and drive more people to Ben's.
How about small business tax breaks for EVERYONE, so residents can have a variety of small businesses to go to, instead of the same old slop and corporate hell product? WTF kind of business development plan is that?
“Did they get some property tax relief from the city?”
Well, maybe residents will point this out the next time the Ali family starts crying about not being able to make enough money to pay their taxes because of gentrification.
I'm probably the resident complainer about service and quality of restaurants in DC.
But I have to say I'm fine with Ben's. Every time I've been the service has been very fast, and the food has been hot.
At a bare minimum the city should put in place the same rules for commercial and investment property that they did for homeowners - your tax assessment may go sky high but at least your taxes go up only 10% per year.
The Council should do that immediately.
Then they should also create a credit in the business franchise tax, so that if your real estate tax goes up, say, $10,000 in a year, then your business franchise tax goes down by the same amount. It should be a dollar for dollar credit.
The recent skyrocketing assessments was essentially the largest tax increase in decades in DC, and no one seems to think it's odd, and to my knowledge no one has challenged it.
I'm a bit amazed that the business community in DC hasn't come out swinging, asking for relief.
Monkey:
There is 11 million in this year's budget for LSDBs. A lot of us had hoped for more, and to be able to apply those funds as tax rebates to LSDBs that had gone through the certification process. The LSDB program is run out of OP.
Big Picture: Tax relief helps (some) on the back-end, but it's not complete. We need front-end proposals as well. Formula Business Zoning (search for the concept at newrules.org) and looking at a use-based system of assessment (all commercial space is taxed at the same rate, regardless of use) could help complete the package.