Revisiting Mott's Market corner store in Capitol Hill DC: residents buy the building after all

In April, this piece, "Saving urban corner stores needs public assistance: Mott's Market on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC," mentioned how the store closed seemingly forever, because the owner of the business and building wanted to cash out, and had no interest in keeping the store open as an ongoing concern.

A neighborhood group formed to try to buy the building but lost out to a higher bid, and I suggested that there need to be systems in place to help such stores stay open.

-- Mott's Neighborhood Market

It turns out the cost of renovating the building to become a house was too high for the purchaser, and the residents ended up getting another chance to buy the building which they did ("Neighbors Buy Mott’s Market Building: Community Bands Together and Saves Mott's Market," Hill Rag).  From the article:

The effort to save the store kicked off on Walter Street. Neighbors immediately banded together in an effort to purchase the building. The group was only days away from making an offer on the 3,313 square foot, two-floor building when it was sold April 25 for $1.25 million. 

But by June, it was re-listed for $100,000 more. When they heard they had a second chance, they immediately remobilized, holding meetings and beginning the formation of the Mott’s Neighborhood Market, LLC that will function as ownership.

'The group managed to gather a total of $475,000 for a down payment. That came from 30 or so different individual contributions of amounts ranging from $5,000 to $60,000. “There’s no giant benefactor in the background, saying “I’ll cover half of it.” “They’re putting their money where their mouth is, saying, “this is something I want to see succeed, so I’m willing to put down this money for that”,” Skinner said. 

Many of those who put money in for the successful August offer were not involved in the first April effort. Some have moved to the Hill since then and want to have a corner market in their neighborhood. The vast majority of investors live within four blocks, Skinner said, although a good number in the group live on the Hill writ larger. 

... Funding came from First Citizens Bank. Justin Wilson, business banker at First Citizens Bank, said the financial institution was proud to be a part of the project. “We know how important the store has been to the fabric of this community. Our bank has helped families and businesses with their financial goals for more than a century, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to finance the purchase of this landmark location.” 

It's a rare positive example.

The building is currently undergoing renovation.

Both this entry and the previous one on White's Ferry ("Revisiting the need for comprehensive transportation planning at the metropolitan and regional scales | For profit services, and White's Ferry, Montgomery and Loudoun Counties") involve protest and advocacy as a way to get better policy outcomes.

In the past I've discussed this in terms of remedies.  There are various forms:

• PLANS for neighborhoods and commercial districts that address such issues
• laws and regulations in place that provide for public input, like historic preservation laws ("Preservation advocacy may be more successful when companies are vulnerable to public pressure: Baltimore County vs. Fairfax County, Virginia vs. Robbinsdale, Minnesota" and "Without remedies there's nothing you can do: historic preservation in Chicago and DC")
• entities in place that can buy, hold, and operate buildings and stores ("The SEMAEST Vital Quartier program remains the best model for helping independent retail,")
• review processes for use changes, and laws that protect independently owned retail (for example Newport Beach, California has a CN zone, for neighborhood serving retail)
• funding sources for independent efforts that aren't impossible to access 

But as I say in such pieces, without remedies or implementation mechanisms, it's very difficult for citizen initiatives to succeed in the face of resistance by property and capital.