1618 14th Street: "That Wall Could Collapse at Any Point Right Now"

A structural engineer testified to DC's Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) on December 18, 2014, that the south wall of 1618 14th Street NW "represents a significant safety hazard" and "bracing should have been installed quite a while ago".

"That wall could collapse at any point right now," said Nathan Hicks of Robert Silman Associates, a Georgetown-based structural engineering firm, in testimony concerning the owner's application to knock the building down.

"I have severe concerns about the integrity of that wall and the potential for its collapse," said HPRB Chair Gretchen Pfaehler at the same meeting.

The building sits on the corner of 14th and Corcoran Streets. The unsafe wall under discussion was the wall that runs along the Corcoran Street side. As of three days ago, when I last saw the building, there was no visible exterior bracing, nor was there any indication to passing pedestrians that the building was potentially unsafe.

Stephen Jaffe, owner of 1618 14th Street

HPRB against raze of the building

After hearing testimony both for and against the raze, the HPRB voted 7-2 to reject the owner's application. Many board members made statements opposing the application.

"We've protected and preserved buildings in far worse condition," said Joseph Taylor.

"We need to preserve this building," said Robert Sonderman.

"I'm not convinced that the owner is not partially responsible for its condition and he hasn't been very aggressive about remediating it," said Maria Casarella.

Building owner testifies

Stephen Jaffe, the owner of the building, testified in favor of the demolition. He told the HPRB he had bought the building in the year 2000, but he had no idea it was structurally unsafe until the year 2012, when the interior dry wall was taken down and the extent of the damage to the building was made clear.

Jaffe also told the HPRB of his intentions concerning the size of a successor to the present two-story building -- should he ever get permission to knock it down.

"We're thinking that it's going to be the same or possibly a three-story building," Jaffe said. "But basically the same style to fit in with the neighborhood. We're not looking to make a big change in this building."

At another point in the hearing, Jaffe told the Board he owned two other buildings in DC historic districts -- one of which is the building which houses Le Diplomate restaurant, one block away on 14th Street.

Other testimony at the meeting detailed the building's history as the location of first an African-American-owned tailoring business, followed by a high end photo studio. A sex club took residency in part of the building in 1991, according to testimony, and eventually expanded to the entire building. The club allegedly made unauthorized changes to the building's interior walls and was the scene of a fire in 2005. The sex club was finally closed in 2009 after a man fell to his death there. 

The request to raze the building was conditionally endorsed in November, 2014, by a committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2F/Logan Circle (see SALM blog post of November 21, 2014). The committee's decision was ratified at the December 2014 meeting of the full ANC.

I did not attend this meeting. This report is based on viewing the archived video of the meeting, available here, starting a time 1:11:34.

(photo credit: screenshot of HPRB video of the meeting)

Sex Club Building Conditional Demolition Endorsement from ANC Committee

A committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle voted unanimously to give conditional endorsement to a request to raze 1618 14th Street NW. For years until 2009, the building was the site of the gay sex club "Men's Parties", which was closed after a man fell to his death on premises.

1618 14th is at the corner of Corcoran (Luis Gomez Photos)

The support for the demolition of the building is "strictly contingent" on the retention of the 14th Street facade of the building, according to the resolution passed by the Community Development Committee (CDC) of ANC2F.

The request to the committee was made by the "personal attorney since 1989" of Stephen Jaffe, the owner of the building. A NBC4 report about the lawsuit by the DC government following the 2009 death says the building was owned by 1618 14th Street LLC, "a company listed at 9464 Newbridge Dr. in Potomac, Md., the home of Stephen and Pirjo Jaffe."

The case for the raze

Accompanying the attorney was Peter Neubauer of Neubauer Consulting Engineers.

The attorney began his presentation by warning the committee the discussion and vote should be about the demolition only, and not "what comes after".

The attorney and the engineer detailed recent study of the building. The building has been "fully vacated" since December 2010. An architect retained in 2011 recommended facade repairs and full interior demolition. In May 2012, an internal demolition of the building received official approval and was done. The true condition of the building was revealed. Moisture at ground level had rotted the floorboard and led to termite infestation according to Neubauer.

A June 2013 raze request met objections from ANC2F and DC's Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB). There has been some further study since then.

The building is in terrible condition and some of the walls are bowing. It is structurally unsound, Neubauer said. In order to restore the south wall facing Corcoran Street, for example, the original bricks in the wall would have to be removed individually or in groups and then replaced. Some of the wall would be lost in the process.

"The brick is failing," Neubauer said.

Three sides of the building (south, west, north) are unsound in part because the bricks are only two-deep. However, the east wall is three-deep (the usual standard). The engineer said in response to committee questioning that the east wall (facing 14th Street) was not structurally unsound.

Historic Preservation attends the meeting

The new raze request seems to have the support of HPRB, although that support is not yet official. Steve Callcott of HPRB appeared in support of the raze request, waiting patiently for over two hours while the CDC considered other matters.

Callcott said the building dates from the 1870s.

"It probably wasn't intended to last this long," he said. "It's significant for that reason. It's a nice reflection of the earliest period of the neighborhood."

However, as the structural integrity of the building is failing, the building may no longer be considered a contributing building to the 14th Street Historic District, in which it is located. 

New ANC Commissioner responds

This building is located in ANC2F district 01. Katherine Gordon was elected earlier this month to be the Commissioner for this district after running unopposed. Her term will start in January.

Gordon told the committee she had spoken to neighbors and the building has been a problem since 2001. (Jaffe bought the property in 2005.) The building owner has not listened to neighbor complaints about the condition of the building since he owned it.

"It has been demolition by neglect," Gordon said.

"I've been expecting this," the attorney replied.

Jaffe only became aware of their concerns after "the 2009 horrific event".

"The neighbors never voiced concerns." the attorney said. "My client was unaware of their concerns."

"If my client had been aware of concerns," the attorney said, "my client would have responded."

The attorney said the building owner now addressed graffiti and vermin problems "weekly".

The raze application resolution will now move to the full ANC for approval. The next meeting of ANC2F is scheduled for Wednesday, December 10, at 7pm, at the Washington Plaza Hotel (10 Thomas Circle).

All requests (like this one) to demolish contributing buildings in a designated historic district must be heard by the Mayor's Agent in the DC Office of Planning.