Is there any way to confirm that a vacant property is being taxed at the vacant rate? There are several houses in my neighborhood that I know are vacant. I want to check to confirm that they are being taxed at the vacant rate so that they’ll either move in or sell it. Anyone else wondering about this? How can I check it?

Go to: https://www.taxpayerservicecenter.com/RP_Search.jsp?search_type=Assessment

For example, you will see that 34, 32, and 30 Q St NW are all taxed at Rate 1- Residential, even though they are all abandoned. (34 is being worked on)

Both of these properties annoy me greatly, and don’t really make sense from an economic standpoint. Why pay high property taxes, forgo rental income, and hold property in a declining-value property market? It truly makes no sense. Rehab loans can be had relatively easily still- particularly by Sendar, who owns the 7th and Q property above and also owns Big Wheel Bikes in Bethesda. Part of it is certainly an element of greed and speculation in anticipation of what it’ll be worth years down the road (ie slumbanking). Lastly, the owners of these properties are often suburbanites who don’t care about the condition of their properties or churches who often want to tear them down for parking or don’t have the financial resources or will to rehab them.

Imgoph- My bad! It would be slander, but the point stands because he still has that cluster of property at 9th and Q. No excuse for it

See this new site from the DC Office of Planning: http://propertyquest.dc.gov/

It gives photo, square/lot map, and vital statistics about zoning, ownership, historic districts, etc. If you use IE it links directly to google street views (but not if you use firefox)

See this for a 1924 view of the building at 9th & U when it was a pick-up outlet for Palace Laundry: http://www.shorpy.com/node/4375

I believe the liquor store at 7th & Q is owned by Warren Williams Jr (seems to go along with the Williams Seven Street LLC noted above), who I believe is the same person the DC government was going to award with the administration of the DC lottery (a quick google search should confirm)…this property at 7th & Q was for sale months ago for $1.3 MILLION a while back but is no longer on the market – the owner got the vacancy tax rate changed back to class 2 for 2009, owes $21,000 in taxes and hasn’t paid anything…

It has a crowd of 5 to 15 people that hang outside of it every day (they even bring their own furniture and store it there at night), and they use the alleys off of Q Street as their own personal bathrooms…

Thanks for posting Prince…now if someone could do something about it…No Loitering signs might be a start…

crin: that OP website is amazing! fantastic find!

now, can you find a map key? i’d like to know what the difference is between the lots represented in darker and lighter shades of orange/beige/whatever color that is.

The property at 9th and U was for sale not to long ago until around May/June. Now there’s a FOR LEASE sign outside. Maybe this will help someone get motivated to open up something in the space. I can only imagine how much they were originally trying to sell that piece of crap for. Such an eyesore.

I think the building at 9th and U would be a prime location for a good diner. It could cater to the late nighters from 9:30 Club, Town, Nellie’s, etc., Howard students, morning commuters, neighborhood residents, etc.