[RP TownTalk] sad news

Sat Feb 1 22:30:47 UTC 2014

Wow, Bummer news, Audrey. Thanks for the heads-up. It is truly sad news for
Riverdale Park and for restaurant operators *Fereydoun and Susan Salimi *who
have been brave soldiers in a difficult industry for decades. Under their
ownership the Calvert House has seen many good times, and more recently,
tough times. And all through a series of co-ownerships, partnerships with
such folks as Fereydoun's brother, Fariborz, who now operates a restaurant
elsewhere in Maryland, and Walt Starling. The late Hyattsville fly boy and
radio star of the morning and afternoon rush hours, was a co-owner in the
80s and often took his clients and friends out for an amazing meal at the
Calvert House. It became a hangout for what Walter called "the PG media
mafia" made up of mostly such county and University of Maryland locals who
landed profile DC media jobs such as Dave Kellogg, Bob Duckman, John
Dowling, Dave Statter, Scott Woodside and others. And all of them, along
with dozens more, returned to the Calvert House for one last bash nine
years ago following Walter's death.

According to local business lore, Washington real estate magnate Douglas
Jemal would often stop by the Calvert House for lunch on his way from
downtown DC to industrial properties he owned in Beltsville, citing that
the restaurant was "the only place to eat" along the way. Allegedly, after
one of those stops he and his entourage drifted down Queensbury Road and
stumbled upon a closed up Town Center. The rest is still developing history
...

Speaking of history, it seems that Riverdale Park's prized IHOP has
pancaked. Read all about it in the inaugural edition of ...

*The Snatch*

*An area-based, occasional publication that offers some or most of the
story, err, a "snatch" of the story ...*

*Covering news in the Tri-Parks, Hyattsville, Bladensburg, Edmonston,
Cheverly, New Carrollton (and in Landover when it's not too gruesome...)*

 *IHOP Is Toast in Riverdale Park*

After nearly a quarter century of operating on the corner of
KenilworthAvenue and
Riverdale Road, the Trouts were wed to Riverdale Park. They never wanted to
leave. But on the morning of Dec 30, the father-son duo of Bill and Jim
called together most of their 47 full-and part-time-member team and broke
the bad news: the International House of Pancakes would close that day.

The Trouts had been the franchisees of the 108-seat landmark A-frame
operation for 24 years. The popular round-the-clock breakfast nook had been
a mainstay at the base of Riverdale Plaza since the late '60s. But IHOP's
Glendale, CA-based parent company, DineEquity, was not able to reach a
lease agreement with the plaza's landlord, the Richmond Company.

"I think they just started negotiating too late. The IHOP people were
talking with the landlord but they could not reach an agreement," Jim
Trout, the son said in a recent interview.

Bill Trout said he and his son tried several times over the years to buy
the IHOP building from the landlord but the owners were not interested in
selling. Both said they understood why  -- hold a larger partial makes the
property more valuable when redeveloping -- and he stressed the franchisees
continue to have a good working relationship with Richmond. Such a good
relationship, he said in fact, that when a water pipe broke in their old
location during the big freeze in early January, the Trouts called a
plumber to repair the pipe and paid the bill.

But one source familiar with the plaza operation suggested that there is
more at play than good relationships. "Richmond has been trying to shutter
all the businesses there so this is not surprising." The source added
"tenants have land rights if active leases are in place. They (Richmond)
are charging rates higher than DC.  No one is re-upping. Their land becomes
immensely more valuable with the Purple Line stop right there."

Several calls to Rockville-based Richmond Company were not returned.

Riverdale Plaza is comprised of just over two-dozen pad sites with such
business as Firestone Tires, CVS and La Grande grocery store are still
open. However, about 10 other storefronts are shuttered.

The long-proposed but as-of-yet unapproved Purple Line light rail system
would connect the New Carrollton Metro station with the subway in Bethesda,
almost 17 miles of commuter rail that proponents say will launch a
development explosion along the way. The original plans call for the
five-year building plan to begin in 2015 but anything starting that soon
now seems unlikely. Still, small business operators in the Purple Line path
are as nervous about their future as a North Korean uncle with a nephew in
power.

"We wanted to stay as long as it got worked out," said Jim Trout. "It was a
good store for us and we didn't want to leave." He noted that Riverdale was
"a challenging area at one point but that changed and it has been good to
us."

The younger Trout said he and his father approached the Cafritz family's
Calvert Tract project about relocating their IHOP operation to that
development. "They said they'd get back to us. I think they want something
more upscale. They didn't say no to IHOP," Jim Trout said, "but they didn't
welcome us with open arms."

More recently, there have been rumblings that a Trout-owned IHOP store
could be relocated to the re-developing Town Center area but no firm
details are available.

The Trouts once also operated an IHOP in the old Landover Mall next to the
Sears store. But the mall was closed and then dropped about a decade ago,
leaving Sears the only retailer surrounded by acres of rubble. Last month,
the Lerner Corporation, which owns the property and whose family members
own the Washington Nationals baseball team, announced that it had purchased
the Sears building and that the retailer would close in March.

Within days, Sears began a "closeout" sale.

Nearly five years ago the Trouts added another IHOP location at 8500
Annapolis Road in New Carrollton to their portfolio. The new store seats
190 and employs about 75 full-and-part-time staff. Some 15 of the RiverdalePark
IHOP staff took jobs at the New Carrollton IHOP and the Trouts anticipate
more will join them later. Signs on the old Riverdale Park store now direct
their longtime Riverdale plaza customers find them three miles away and
offer a "Valued Customer Card" where customers can get "15% off your check."

The IHOP store is just the latest closure in the once prominent shopping
plaza. The Riverdale Plaza Theater, which opened with 815 seats in March
1968 and was twined in 1993 by Paul Sanchez' P&G Theaters, has been dark
since 2007, the victim of the big screen, home theater craze.

- 30 -

Got thoughts, criticisms, story ideas, questions for *The Snatch?* Reach
out to YorkeInk at gmail.com

On Sat, Feb 1, 2014 at 4:11 PM, Audrey Bragg <abragg7393 at aol.com> wrote:

> Tonight is the last night for the Calvert House in Riverdale Park.  I just
> found out today that the end is here and thought the townsfolk would like
> to have one last drink for this historic occasion.  Who wants to meet?
> audrey
>
>
> Audrey Bragg, Broker
> Gerrety & Bragg Real Estate, Inc.
> 301-277-1111 office
> 301-351-4222 cell
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
> For more information about Riverdale Park, visit
> http://www.riverdaleparkmd.info
>
>

-- 
Jeffrey Yorke
Yorke Property Management, Inc.
Yorke Partners
Jeffrey at YorkeRents.com
301-502-1243
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