Results tagged “auction”

New York hedge fund Atalaya Capital Management were the winners in a bankruptcy auction in Tampa today to see who would control the Creative Loafing newspaper chain, owners of the Washington City Paper and other alternative weeklies, reports the St. Petersburg Times. Atalaya was Creative Loafing's largest creditor by far, and they took control of the company by significantly outbidding a partnership made up of now former Loafing CEO Ben Eason and another hedge fund creditor, BIA Digital Partners. Atalaya offered $5 million, while the Eason group opened with $2.32 million.

PB Capital Corp. agreed to purchase The Watergate Hotel today for $25 million at foreclosure auction, after submitting the one and only bid (via The Washington Business Journal and Housing Complex). Developer Monument Realty, which had to abandon its plans to renovate the hotel after lending markets collapsed, actually owed $40 million to PB Capital, making the sale something of an indicator of these strange financial times. Monument co-founder Michael Darby was reportedly on hand for the auction, and put on a brave face for the BizJo: "Am I disappointed? In some ways yes, in some ways no. We knew this was happening. I’ve lost a lot of money over time, but that’s part of what we do."

It was late summer of 2007 when the old Watergate Hotel sold off all its contents amid a massive renovation effort, with plans to reopen as something fancier, newer, or at least less shabby. But then, of course, the bottom fell out of the financial markets, and it seems the long-delayed plans for construction are finally abandoned. The hotel is going on the auction block on Tuesday, the Post reports. The hotel's owner, Monument Realty, was financed mainly be Lehman Brothers, so you can guess what happened. Alex Cooper Auctioneers will start the bidding at $1 million at their Wisconsin Ave. offices.

The Week in Real Estate is a column from Mark Wellborn of UrbanTurf, a local blog and newsletter that covers the residential real estate scene in D.C., MD, and VA.

The closing of Colorado Kitchen is one of the more notable in local restaurant news. Chef Gillian Clark is well known in D.C. for her strong personality and her ability to persevere as one of the few female head chefs. Clark told Washingtonian's Todd Kliman that the closing was due to a space issue. Maybe it's all semantics, but that sounds like slightly different language on Rasmus, the auction site where the kitchen's equipment is being sold, implying that it is due to redevelopment of the building. The last day of service will be June 29. Prince of Petworth first reported news of the auction.

By now you've all heard that Murky Coffee's Capitol Hill location has been shuttered after the city seized the coffee shop thanks to owner Nick Cho failing to pay more than $425,000 in sales tax to the city. The building's landlord has since evicted the coffee shop, so it won't be reopening. Today the Post's D.C. Wire blog brings word that the entire contents of the shop are being auctioned off by the D.C. government.

According to a legal notice published earlier this week, the tax office would like to sell all of Murky's assets as a whole and bids will start at $10,000. The highest bidder will have 24 hours to make out a certified or cashier's check payable to the D.C. Treasurer. No personal checks will be accepted, according to the notice.

In what was probably the last time Dr. Dremo’s Taphouse in Arlington would be open to the public, close to 100 spectators, friends and former patrons of Dr. Dremo’s Taphouse gathered around the indoor bar last night to give their last tributes to the staff and possibly take home a memento by which to remember the D.C.-area fixture. While a few came in search of a deal on a pool table, kitchen appliance, or set of bar furnishings, many of those who showed up came to watch the auction festivities and learn the fate of Dremo’s outdoor totem.

As of yet, we haven’t heard of any last minute reprieves for Dr. Dremo’s, which plans to close its doors in the early hours Sunday morning. So come 2 a.m, you’re done downing your last ale in your favorite chair or stool next to that weird kitschy decoration you’ve always liked. But you can come back one last time, on Monday night at 7 p.m., for a chance to take your own piece of Dr. Dremo’s home with you. On the auction block are 12 pool tables, kitchen equipment, general restaurant supplies, 200-gallon stainless steel beer tanks and even the totem pole. “Most of this stuff is going in the dumpster if no one buys it," manager Bill Stewart told Washingtonian. The bar’s beer tap handles, copper-topped tables, and original brewing tanks are among the few things that are not for sale.

Written by Buy Indie's Vince Wadhwani It's easy to justify going to an independent clothing boutique to find a unique outfit. After all, who wants to walk into a bar wearing the same thing as everyone else? But when it comes to our housewares and hardware, the equation often becomes a lot less complicated. Though you may not find a pink toolbelt over at the Home Depot, you also won't find too many people fretting...

Candidates in next Tuesday's special election to fill two open D.C. Council seats have collectively raised over $1 million in the course of the campaign. Voters will chose council members for Wards 4 and 7, after those positions were left empty by Mayor Adrian Fenty and at-large Council Chairman Vincent Gray. Voters in D.C. Public Schools' Second District will also elect a school board representative. In Ward 4, ANC Commissioner Muriel Bowser leads the pack...

> > Deadline worth noting! Anyone interested in participating in this year's DC Idiotarod has until tomorrow, Thursday March 1, at 11:59 p.m. to register your team for the big race on March 3. Don't miss out on this opportunity to bring wanton chaos to the streets of D.C. [DC Idiotarod] > > Fans of soccer, wine, photography, and philanthropy will descend upon the JW Marriott tonight for the Goals for Girls Auction & Wine...

Now's the time to get your ticket to the Third Annual Transformer Silent Auction and Benefit Party. Held on Saturday, November 4, at the Edison Place Gallery, the night promises to be an evening of creative company, great food, and a celebration of local talent.

Anthony Bourdain defines "food porn" as "the glorification of food as a substitute for sex." As with food porn, wine porn -- to paraphrase Bourdain -- describes certain mind-blowingly hedonistic and expensive wines for an audience that has little intention of actually drinking them. If Wine Spectator and Robert Parker's Wine Advocate are the respective Penthouse and Hustler of wine publications, then the 7th Annual Heart's Delight Wine Tasting and Auction -- running from Thursday, May 11 through Saturday, May 13 at locations in and around Washington -- is the industry's blockbuster AVN Awards Show. And if you're willing to shell out enough cash, you can buy yourself a role as a wine pornstar for a day -- or three.

The District will have one fewer place for middle-aged letches to hit on dancing college girls drinking watered-down hurricanes, when Friday night fades into Saturday morning and Lulu's Club Mardi Gras packs up its multicolored awnings for good. Lulu's has long been a fixture at the changing corner of 22nd and M Streets NW. Longtime owner Ulysses "Blackie" Auger sold Lulu's years ago, and when he passed away in November 2004, his family opted to sell sibling Blackie's House of Beef. Blackie's went to the great restaurant slaughterhouse in the sky on New Year's Eve. And Lulu's will climb its own 13 stairs -- no doubt made of wrought-iron -- at 4 a.m. Saturday. If you'd like to read some last rites to the summer intern haunt and erstwhile Kegs & Eggs host, head down to Lulu's this Friday night at 8 p.m., when your $20 cover charge will give you access to an open bar. Besides, it may be the only time that their completely unnecessary velvet rope is actually warranted.

I recently received a bottle of wine that would normally be way, way out of my range as a gift. Are there are any recommended restaurants that will do a tasting menu based on the wine?

The city has made one change to its auction parameters. Only vehicles 10 years and under will be auctioned. Those over 10 years old will be sold as scrap. In the past, cars as old as 15 and 20 years were routinely offered for auction, earning only marginal returns, according to DPW officials.