Check Out the New Howard Theatre Website

A new Howard Theatre website is up and running at http://thehowardtheatre.com/.  The website provides a calendar of shows, but it's still a work in progress: tickets for the shows will not be available online until February 27, 2012, and many of the site features — including the restaurant menu  — are listed as "Coming Soon".

54-Unit Condo Building Planned for 1250 9th Street, NW

Urban Turf reports that a 5-story, 54-unit condo project is planned for 1250 9th Street, NW — the current location of Contemporary Wing.  The Urban Turf article states that the plan is "to build the condo project up and around the existing structure [and] ... [a]pproximately 65 percent of the existing historic structure will be preserved."  The project developer is CAS Riegler, whose projects include the redeveloped the Flatiron Building at 143 Rhode Island Avenue, NW, at the 11-unit Standard Eleven at 1109 M Street, NW, which is scheduled to deliver in the summer of 2012.

Read the Urban Turf article at http://bit.ly/wv8xbx.  Renew Shaw also reports on the planned project, and includes additional project renderings, at http://bit.ly/xtFRRt.

Transcripts of Mood Lounge ABC Board Hearings

Shaw Deserves Better has posted the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board hearing transcripts from the two January 13, 2012, hearings regarding Mood Lounge.  The main hearing focused on the summary suspension of Mood Lounge's license following the stabbing that took place outside Mood Lounge on December 30, 2011.  (That transcript is 770 pages long.)  The second hearing was related to excessive noise from Mood Lounge that was alleged to violate the voluntary agreement.  (That transcript is over 230 pages long.)

Read both transcripts at the Shaw Deserves Better post at http://bit.ly/ypIRGh.

Washington Post Highlights Opening of Howard Theatre

The Washington Post today (February 22, 2012) published an article on the opening of the Howard Theatre.  The article listed some of the scheduled performers and included this interesting piece of information: Each week beginning April 15, the Howard Theatre will host a Sunday gospel brunch featuring the Harlem Gospel Choir.

Check out the full article at http://wapo.st/zLNU8J.

Shaw's Tavern Reopens, But Without Liquor License; Prior Owner's Appeal Denied

As reported by DC Eater, Shaw's Tavern reopened today, but without its alcoholic beverage license.  It will operate only during daytime hours until the license is issued.

As reported earlier on this blog, the Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board has scheduled a hearing on license application of Shaw's Tavern for March 12, 2012.  (The notice is after the jump.)  Under District law, the Board has 90 days after the hearing to issue a decision.

In the interim, Shaw's Tavern requested that the ABC Board issue a temporary liquor license (called a "stipulated license") before the hearing.  (The stipulated license application is after the jump.)  The request went before the ABC Board on January 25, 2012, at which time the Board scheduled a fact finding hearing for February 8, 2012.  The February 8, 2012, hearing was held behind closed doors.  The Board stated that it would issue a decision on the stipulated license request within 90 days. 

Also, in an interesting endnote to the previous owner's quest for a license, the ABC Board in a 10-page order issued on January 25, 2012, rejected Abbas Fathi's request that the Board reconsider its prior decision denying a license.  In its decision, the Board noted that the Mr. Fathi held two events at Shaw's Tavern before the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs had even issued a certificate of occupancy.  (The Board's order is after the jump.)

View the March 12 hearing notice, the stipulated license application, and the Board's order on reconsideration after the jump.

Owner of Mood Lounge Building in Bankruptcy, Seeks Authority to Sell Property

In an aspect of the Mood Lounge saga that appears to have received little attention, the owners of the building in which Mood Lounge is located filed for bankruptcy in August of 2011, after having been served with a notice of foreclosure in July 2011.  The bankruptcy proceeding is ongoing.  On January 19, 2012, the bankruptcy judge granted the building owner the authority to employ Charles Papadopoulos and Papadopoulos Properties as real estate agent and broker.  (If there are any bankruptcy lawyers who happen to read this post, it would be interesting to know if a buyer purchasing a property in a bankruptcy proceeding can terminate an existing lease; please post any information to the comments section.)

More information from the filings is after the jump.

And many thanks to a commenter who pointed out the existence of the foreclosure filing, which led to the information on the bankruptcy filing.

New ABC Board Hearings Scheduled on Mood Lounge

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Board has scheduled two hearings to review five charges of unlawful conduct by Mood Lounge.  The first hearing, scheduled for March 28, 2012, at 9:30 a.m., is a status hearing.  The status hearing is a non-adversarial proceeding where the Board will ask whether Mood Lounge is contesting the charges against it.  (Mood Lounge will also have the opportunity to present any settlement it may have reached with the Office of the Attorney General, which is the legal representative of the Board.)  If Mood Lounge contests the charges, a show cause hearing will be held on May 2, 2012, at 1:30 p.m.  At the show cause hearing, Mood Lounge will be required to show cuase why it should not be fined or have its licensed suspsended or revoked.

The charges against Mood Lounge are the following:

• Mood Lounge interfered with an investigation of the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration
• Mood Lounge failed to follow its security plan
• Mood Lounge permitted the use of a controlled substance (marijuana) on its premises
• Mood Lounge violated its voluntary agreement by playing excessively loud music (two charges)

The charges are described in more detail in the Board's notice of status and show cause hearings, which is after the jump.