New Pub coming to 1240 9th Street "District Lost and Found"

Last Friday I met with Geoff Dawson and Brian Leonard to begin the discussions on their new CT (Tavern) license headed to 1240 9th Street.  That is the building between the Long View Gallery and the new Construction condo/apartment building under construction at 9th and N Streets (this building will have retail along 9th Street and curving around on N Street across from TABLE - no word yet on what they are planning).  Yes they are well aware of the history of this name.

The pub will occupy the entire floor and they intend to replace the garage door on Blagden Alley with a roll up door that can be open (when that door is kept closed will definitely be an item in the settlement agreement).  Floor load here is 99 seats.  No car valet planned but they do plan to have a bike valet (there are no plans to use the upstairs part of the building other than for storage - the building owner is in the bar owner's family).  I told them about the expected hours on this block being C2A and adjacent to R4 residential property, A&D being a good model for a CT license.  We discussed hours, the entertainment license issues, trash and the usual variety of issues.  They plan to placard soon.  They will bring their proposal to the Jan BANCA meeting and go through the ANC 2F Alcohol Beverage Control Committee and full ANC with the objective of obtaining a settlement agreement.  Contact me if you want to know more - I gave them a lot to ponder so we'll have to wait and see what the actual proposal will be.  The following is from Geoff and Brian (and does not yet reflect any of the inputs I provided or they will be provided by the neighborhood/ANC as they go through the process):

District Lost and Found

District Lost and Found (DL&F), locating at 1240 9^th St., NW, will be a neighborhood gathering spot very much in the same style as Nanny O’Brien’s in Cleveland Park. We hope to build a core business that primarily serves our nearby residents. While we will not have a full service kitchen our aim will be to provide a robust selection of snacks and appetizers. We also intend to use our food capabilities from sister businesses such as Ripple and Nanny O’s to provide unique menu items. We will focus on offering a hardy beer and wine menu, with particular focus on the craft beer market.

DL & F will be a perfect place to play board games, meet for a birthday celebration, watch a Nats game or catch a local jazz, bluegrass or acoustic set.  With a front door that faces the DC Convention Center on 9^th St., we do not believe there will be any noise issues for residential neighbors. We will be sensitive to our neighbors in scheduling trash pickup, keeping our sidewalks clean and responding in a timely way to any issues that may arise.

District Lost and Found, as its name suggests, will recycle, repurpose and reuse as many items as possible in our eclectic build-out and décor and become a neighborhood resource for recycling batteries, fluorescent bulbs and cell phones. We envision organizing local recycling efforts in areas where the DC government falls short. We will be inventive and creative in finding fun ways to entertain our neighbors—maybe a pop-up flea market Saturday mornings or a donut and beer pairing with Astro Donuts Sunday afternoons. We plan on displaying work from emerging local artists as Bedrock Billiards has done for years, giving 100% of sales to the artists. We look forward to hosting any neighborhood groups in need of meeting space. And we plan to have DC’s first bike valet!

District Lost and Found will be owned and operated by DC residents Brian Leonard and Geoff Dawson.

Brian Leonard has been in the bar and restaurant business for 10 years, beginning at Rock Bottom in Bethesda and moving to Nanny O’Brien’s as the general manager in 2007. At Nanny O’Brien’s, Brian has become a part of the Cleveland Park neighborhood and has operated the business in a sensitive and professional fashion. He is committed to becoming a positive member of the Shaw community.

Native Washingtonian Geoff Dawson has been a bar and restaurant owner in DC since 1992, opening and operating such neighborhood fixtures as Nanny O’Brien’s, Atomic Billiards, Buffalo Billiards, Bedrock Billiards, Iron Horse Taproom, Laughing Man Tavern and Ripple. He has a long-standing record of doing the right thing within the communities in which he operates. Geoff’s late uncle Phillip Abraham was a longtime denizen of Blagden Alley who loved the potential of this wonderful city gem; Geoff is a believer too. Geoff is on the board of Think Local First DC.