Dear PoP – What Will Become of Social?

“Dear PoP,

I live right around the corner from the empty restaurant/bar Social on 14th and Meridian Pl., NW in Columbia Heights. It’s been months since it closed and I haven’t seen any changes or updates! (Aside from the smashed ceramic pots in the sidewalk patio.) There are even the same bags of trash right inside the door of the bar area that have been there since the day it closed. Have you heard anything as to whether or not it will reopen or a new business will move in it’s place? How can the owners afford to pay rent on the property and just let it sit there?”

Another reader writes:

“Social apparently owes a large number of unpaid taxes to the DC government. There’s now a lien on the liquor license, so anyone looking to open a restaurant there would have to pay the back taxes.”

When we first heard Social had abruptly closed back in Nov. ’10 I had hope that the close might only be temporary. Well clearly things are not looking good. I also have noticed that all the pots out front have been smashed in addition to garbage beginning to collect out front. I’m really saddened by the situation because I thought the owners were really nice folks who had taken a rundown building and made a pretty cool restaurant/bar out of it. I now fear that the building is going to sit vacant for a while if what the second reader writes is accurate. It’s really a shame because this corner had transformed from a rundown hole into a cool space seemingly overnight. Let’s hope it doesn’t turn back into a rundown hole before new owners can take over.