Restaurant owners on P Street who have suffered devastating business loss since a streetscaping project began there in January are betting on a unified valet system and the possibility of low-interest loans from the D.C. government to keep them afloat.
The construction between NW 23rd Street and Dupont Circle has shut down lanes and stretches of sidewalk on P Street and trapped restaurants behind street barriers and construction crews for months at time, funneling clients to areas of Dupont that are easier to navigate.
The loss of foot and street traffic has already sent local donut shop Fractured Prune packing to Rockville and is threatening to condemn Mark and Orlando’s, Montsouris, Stars and DC Café.
Owners hope a unified valet system, proposed by them and backed by D.C. Council Member Kwame Brown, will help restore some needed clientele to the blighted area.
Brown says the organization Historic Dupont Circle Main Streets should receive $56,000 in October to help subsidize valet stations at the corners of 21st and P streets and 22nd and P streets until next April, when the construction is scheduled to be completed. The businesses would assume the costs for the service after that. Cars would be parked at the Francis Junior High School parking lot at 24th and N streets, and the service will cost customers between $5 and $7, the organization said.
“This could be used a model for other parts of the city,” Brown said, naming H Street NE, Brookland and 17th Street as potential candidates for unified valet. Capitol Hill’s Barracks Row implemented a unified valet system this summer.
Elias Khalil, who bought the restaurant Mimi’s in December and changed its name to Stars, is looking for a loan from the District to help him recover from a crippling year in which his popular patio was unusable for much of the summer.
“The city ought to understand — they’re a 10 percent partner in our businesses,” he said, referring to the sales tax the city reaps from restaurant sales.
The City Council set aside a $188,000 micro loan fund for small businesses that becomes available Oct. 1, but the D.C. Department of Small and Local Business Development has yet to finalize the application guidelines. An application process should be in place within two months, department Director Erik A. Moses said.
If there is help on the way, business owners hope it comes sooner rather than later.
“We’re all holding onto the idea that it’ll get better, but it’s pretty bleak,” said Mark Medley, who is considering shutting down his restaurant, Mark and Orlando’s. “You get only so deep in the hole before you start thinking, even if it’s great six months from now, it’s not going to catch you up.”
