New development in the historic Shaw neighborhood has put two restaurateurs’ liquor licenses on uncertain footing and sparked a conflict about the future of the neighborhood. The restaurants are located on Ninth Street between the new Convention Center and Rhode Island Avenue, just blocks from both the Mt. Vernon Square and Shaw Metro stations and steps from where this DCist lives. They also both happen to be located a stone’s throw from Shiloh Baptist Church, which owns not only their church and its large multi-million dollar addition, but also a childcare center and a number of vacant properties in the neighborhood.
When Vegetate, a new vegetarian restaurant (entrees pictured to the right), and Queen of Sheba, a new Ethiopian restaurant, applied for liquor licenses in September the church vigorously protested at the hearings, arguing that the community didn’t need additional bars. The City Paper covered the dispute, quoting the director of the church’s Human Services Program, Rev. Robert Felton, arguing for temperance: “I’ve had personal contact with so many folks who have alcohol problems. Why should I want them to have contact with another place of no redeeming value?”
The motives of Shiloh have baffled the restaurants and the public. After all, there’s a liquor store directly across the street from the church and an upscale vegetarian restaurant seems hardly as threatening. Krison Capps has speculated the church may want to be able to snap up property in the area for future development, but we think there’s already plenty of it to go around and the church already seems to have its supply. We have heard another explanation: on Sundays the church’s mostly suburban members fill every available parking spot for blocks, but Vegetate has a Sunday brunch which will no doubt produce competition. The move has even sparked some e-activism among local residents and bloggers.
While the liquor license issue has dragged on — the District government has asked Vegetate to re-post their announcement signs after complaints from Shiloh, and Queen of Sheba has a “fact-finding” hearing scheduled for 9:30 a.m. tomorrow — Vegetate opened for business with a launch party yesterday. The smoke-free vegetarian restaurant is housed in a beautifully renovated 3-floor row house which contains dining space on the first and third floors, and a small bar, DJ booth, and outside deck on the second floor. Meanwhile, Queen of Sheba is under construction and the liquor license application displayed in the window says the owners intend to stay open until 3 a.m. on weekends with live music and dancing in addition to Ethiopian cuisine.
Shiloh Baptist Church’s ownership of vacant properties and recent moves have frustrated local boosters like the people at Shaw Main Streets, who have been working for years to help spark commercial real estate development on Seventh and Ninth Streets. They see the opening of a new sit-down restaurant a major milestone for the neighborhood. It seems that regardless of their wishes, changes are inevitable — Fritz Hahn blogged in March about plans to open a 32-tap brewhouse on the street-level of the Washington Convention Center. While the space is still empty and we haven’t heard any news of the project recently, it seems development in that space is inevitable as well.
