The barrel as part of Barrel House in 2014. The liquor store is now located next door, at the previous site of Salon Blu. (Photo by DoctorJ.Bass)

Ever since Barrel House Liquor Store moved to the storefront next door to its iconic 14th Street location this February, the concrete barrel that marked the entrance has remained behind scaffolding.

The building’s owner, landlord Eric Meyers, has long claimed that he would keep the concrete barrel as long as he remained involved with the property.

As of today, he told UrbanTurf that there’s a seven-story retail and residential development slated for the location, and it will boast the barrel as an entrance.

The Bonstra|Haresign Architects project will have retail space and 35 to 40 residences, Meyers told UrbanTurf. The design goes to ANC 2F later this week—there’s a 7 p.m. presentation at the Washington Plaza Hotel on Wednesday—followed by the Historic Preservation Review Board.

ANC Commissioner Pepin Tuma, who led an effort to earn historic status for the famous facade, says that the new design “ensures that it becomes a lasting landmark in the neighborhood.”

While ANC 2F disagreed over whether a historic designation was the best way to preserve the barrel, Tuma is pleased with the current outcome. “It’s always better to have buy-in from the owner and have property owners making the best decisions rather than have government tell them what’s right,” he says. “We were able to accomplish what we wanted.”

Tuma says the next step is to ensure that neighbors’ “concerns with construction, light, and noise are going to be minimized.”

One concern among commissioners was whether it would be confusing for customers to have the barrel next to Barrel House. Tuma has hopes that the liquor store will move back into the retail space of the development, at its original location, despite a rent disagreement precipitating the move next door.

“I know that the Meyers family would love to see Barrel House Liquor Store be back in the building and, as a long time patron of the store, I think Barrel House Liquor belongs in the Barrel House,” he says.

But Barrel House Liquor Store owner Mesfun Ghebrelul says he’s received no hard numbers on rent or square footage to indicate another move.

“Logan Circle might wish, including Barrel House, to go back to the original location but there is nothing tangible to say that. It’s just a wish,” says Ghebrelul. “I am here now. Let the building finish and let’s see what goes on then.”