Judge Royce Lamberth has set the stage for the trial between Whole Foods and their Glover Park store landlord Wical LP. If God sent the rodents, Whole Foods wins! If Whole Foods invited them, they lose. Ok, I twisted his words a bit, but the Judge has boiled down the case to one simple issue among all the complexities presented by the lawyers: Was the rodent problem "an act of God?" The Judge denied the motions of both sides for judgment in their favor because, he said, neith

Whole Foods in Glover Park has been closed for over two years now, and their lawsuit against the landlord Wical LP for wrongful eviction has been delayed again. Both parties petitioned the court to extend again the pre-trial discovery period, which now ends August 19th, 2019. When will the trial be scheduled and how long will it take? Who knows. Do you care at this point? Trader Joe's will be opening down the street in July. On top of this, the DC Office of Tax and Revenue

The Glover Park Starbucks at 2302 Wisconsin Avenue is closing permanently around the end of March 2019. The property manager, Mia Lovink, confirmed that they have given their notice. Ms. Lovink said that they appeared to be doing a good business in this location but suspects that it did not fit into Starbucks' long term plan. Starbucks announced in June 2018 a national plan to close 150 stores largely in urban areas in response to weak sales growth. This coffee shop has been

It appears that the settlement talks between Whole Foods and their landlord Wical LP have failed and both parties now seek to schedule a trial date. Whole Foods and Wical have been involved in a dispute and court case over the closing of the Glover Park store and subsequent eviction order for over a year now, and the store remains closed. See history of the blog posts here. The two parties filed with the courts a joint status report on on May 24th, 2018 regarding their conf

Mason Inn, a sports bar with live entertainment at 2408 Wisconsin Avenue, has closed its doors for good as of the end of March, 2018. This decision by owner Corey Lockett continues the trend of restaurant/retail closings and vacancies along the commercial strip in Glover Park. Corey had strong but not uncommon feelings about why he needed to make this decision: "The rents are ridiculous compared to other opportunities in the surrounding areas. High rent, poor street traffic

Whole Foods and their landlord Wical LP have been in settlement talks for a while regarding the Glover Park store, and it now looks like an announcement might come in the next two weeks. Back on January 24th the judge issued an opinion (see blog post here) in which he declared that Whole Foods was not in default of their lease. This opinion favored the case of Whole Foods and undermined the central premise of the landlord's case for eviction. After Judge Royce Lamberth's op

The path of the Whole Foods eviction case became much clearer after U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth opined clearly and firmly in a memorandum filed January 24th 2018. The opinion followed months of court silence, during which the only action was the landlord's (Wical's) attempt to dismiss Whole Foods complaints for the eviction notice. While the only substantive accomplishment of the opinion was to deny Wical's attempt to dismiss the complaint - which doesn't take the case

Glover Park's commercial strip on Wisconsin Avenue changes regularly with the ebbs and flows of capitalism, but lately we are experiencing a high number of changes and property vacancies. A total of over 150,000 square feet of commercial space in this small 5 block area is in flux at the moment! Here is a summary of what is going on: Glover Park Commercial Vacancy Map Pearson's Liquor 2436 Wisconsin Ave This neighborhood icon, in business since 1933, is up for sale - both t

Whole Foods' Glover Park landlord formally responded to the lawsuit filed against them and it seems they are prepared to fight. See the background of the case at the previous blog post here. Wical, led by real estate investor Sylvan Herman, filed a strongly worded opposition to the complaint on June 27th. Wical seeks to have the court deny Whole Foods' request for an injunction preventing Wical from enforcing its lease default notice. In their response, Wical disputes ever