Washington City Paper: Contents for Jan. 13

The Painmaker
The D.C. Council closed Richard Luchs favorite loophole. So the real estate attorney found another

Cover Story

In 1985, a then-14-year-old Carlos Baruca emigrated from El Salvador and rented an apartment at 2351 Champlain St. NW, in Adams Morgan, with his brother. He supported himself during high school by washing dishes and waiting tables at a neighborhood restaurant, Mr. Henry’s. After getting his diploma from Cardozo Senior High School in 1988, he waited for the next eight years at Galileo restaurant downtown. He saved his money, and by 1996, he and three of his brothers had rented space for a restaurant on 14th Street NW.

The restaurant, El Paraiso, thrived; he and his brothers used their profits to open a market nearby and were able to buy the building that houses the restaurant. Carlos got married and started a family at the Champlain Street apartment. All the while, they and other tenants, says Carlos, saved for the day when they could finally buy the apartments they were living in.

Thanks to a tenant-friendly provision in D.C. law, that day appeared to have come in early 2001, when one of their building’s owners, Lucy O’Brien, sold her 50 percent share to an investor named Dennis Lee. The tenants learned about the sale two weeks later, when Lee offered to sell his share to the tenants for nearly five times what he had just paid. The tenants thought that the transaction between O’Brien and Lee should have triggered their right to buy, a right guaranteed by the District’s Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA).... Continued

Issue of Jan. 13 - 19, 2006

News and Features

The Painmaker
The D.C. Council closed Richard Luchs favorite loophole. So the real estate attorney found another
Cover Story By Ryan Grim
Major League Assholes
Baseballs latest excuses, annotated
Feature By Mike Kanin
Gut Check
The City By Rachel Beckman
National Gurdwara
The City By Aaron Leitko
Price Pick of the Week
1124 Girard St. NW
Seller's Market By Brian Beutler
Ho, Ho, Uh-Oh
The Mail By Bjarne Hecht
So I Says to the Kettle, I Says...
The Mail By Nik Trendowski
Dewey Decimated
The Mail By Robin Diener
Corrections
Correction By Editorial
Corrections
Correction By Editorial

Columns

Censorship in the City
Loose Lips By James Jones
Curb That Horse
City Desk By Mike DeBonis
Dishonorable Discharge
Taylor learns salvation and salivation dont mix
Cheap Seats By Dave McKenna
Channel Serf
Television By Mario Correa
Savage Love
Savage Love By Dan Savage
Inside Job
City Desk By Arthur Delaney

Eats

The Pink and the Green
Young & Hungry By Anne Marson

Movies

Family Outing
Film Review By Tricia Olszewski
Fool Britannia
Film Review By Mark Jenkins

Music

Top O the Mourning
Music Review By Joe Dempsey
Manhunter
Music By Joe Warminsky

Theater

Stout Heart
Theater Review By Bob Mondello
Silly Boy
Theater Review By Trey Graham

Arts and Events

Boogie Plight
In 2005 upscale DC lounge Chloe was cited for several potential liquor law violations, including illegal use of a DJ and--worse--providing a place for people to dance
Show & Tell By Chris Shott
'Ette Tu?
Books By Brian Beutler
Mini Ha Has
Artifacts By Dave Jamieson
Shutter to Think
Artifacts By Hetty Lipscomb
Culture Vultures
What does it take to get an arts grant from the D.C. government?
Culture Vultures By Rachel Beckman