GDoN-Revisited by Hipchickindc, Funeral Home Edition, – 391 Rhode Island Ave NW

Prince Of Petworth September 23, 2011 at 11:00am

Hipchickindc is a licensed real estate broker. Her latest business venture can be seen here Unless specifically noted, neither she nor the company that she is affiliated with represented any of the parties or were directly involved in the transaction reported below. Unless otherwise noted, the source of information is Metropolitan Regional Information Systems (MRIS), which is the local multiple listing system. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Featured Property: 391 Rhode Island Ave NW
Legal Subdivision: LeDroit Park
Advertised Subdivision per Listing: LeDroit Park
Original List Price: $955,000.
List Price at Contract: $799,000.
List Date: 02/20/2011
Days on Market: 180
Settled Sales Price: $850,000.
Settlement Date: 09/21/2011
Seller Subsidy: $0.
Bank Owned?: No Short Sale? No
Type Of Financing: Cash

Original post is: here.

The listing can be seen: here.

This was never actually offered up as an official “Good Deal or Not” (GDoN) post, however, PoP’s post from 08/09/11 (linked above) titled “Frazier’s Funeral Home for Sale in Ledroit Park” garnered a lot of interest. As several commenters noted, the building had housed the Frazier’s Funeral Home business for many decades and is known for its love-it-or-hate-it formstone and bright blue awnings. The very visible property is located at the well traveled intersection of Florida Ave NW, Rhode Island Ave NW, and 4th St NW. Apparently, as recently as 2007, the business had been operating, although, not without some challenges.

Some discussion came about regarding the generational aspect of neighborhood funeral businesses. Typically, they are grand properties and like many generational neighborhood businesses, are rapidly disappearing. Hall Brothers Funeral Home is located a couple of blocks to the west of the subject property at 619 and 621 Florida Avenue NW. 621 Florida Ave NW sold in 2005. 619 Florida Ave NW, which was the parlor (probably viewing and visiting) part of the home, sold in 2009 and is currently on the market for over a million dollars (unfortunately, with no interior pics or virtual tour). This PoP post shows 621 on the left and 619 on the right.

Continues after the jump.

Funeral homes bring up some interesting objections, not the least of which is the general ick factor. I tend to agree with Mr. T’s comments, though, that you’re probably more likely to get some good ghosts in a regular house as opposed to a place where bodies were stored. On a serious note, however, the concerns about the chemicals used in the embalming process can potentially be an issue (I am not aware of the specific circumstances of the subject property), not unlike the environmental issues posed by dry cleaning chemicals or meth labs.

This sale included both the large commercial property (zoned C2A, which is desirable to developers due to its flexibility), as well as a small lot. There are rumors, but I’m not going to speculate as to the future use of the property. I side with the commenters who hope that the property remains intact, albeit naked of formstone.