A new restaurant could soon emerge from the former Duck Duck Goose space near Dupont Circle.
Korean restaurant group Hansik Enterprises LLC acquired the nearly 2,900-square-foot space at 21st and P streets NW Oct. 2 for $1.6 million, per the D.C. Recorder of Deeds. The restaurant condominium space is part of the Hartnett Building at 1426 21st St. NW, though restaurants occupying the space have listed their street address as 2100 P St. NW.
Hansik is an affiliate of Tae Kyong Kim, who registered another entity, Peona Korean Dining, with the District in June. On LinkedIn, Tae Kyong Kim identifies herself as a D.C. restaurateur since January and, prior to that, as an assistant professor at the Defense Language Institute.
The seller was an LLC managed by Robert Rubin of Bethesda and Tom Papadopoulos, who is also founder of Papadopoulos Properties. Their LLC, Moe Greene, so named for the character in “The Godfather” series, paid $1.7 million for the property in 2018.
Duck Duck Goose closed earlier in the year, and a team from Feldman Ruel including Josh Feldman, Ian Ruel and Adam Costanzo began marketing the restaurant to prospective buyers in late February once the former restaurant operator had relinquished the space, Feldman told me. It went under a letter of intent in late May.
The offering drew healthy interest from prospective buyers given its location, existing restaurant infrastructure, outdoor seating potential and frontage along P Street. A range of prospective users emerged, including some interested in the space for a cannabis shop, though the majority of the interest came from other restaurant groups. Hansik was picked from a short list of three bidders.
"As you can imagine, there is not exactly a shortage of buyers interested in that type of product," Feldman said.
The buyer plans to open a Korean fine dining restaurant in the space, per Feldman, who deferred to representatives for the buyer for more details on those plans. Kim, who was represented by Anna Ensley of Sampson Properties, could not be reached for comment.
Dupont Circle was one of three Duck Duck Goose locations for owner and chef Ashish Alfred, with others in Bethesda and Baltimore. Alfred added a second concept, Good Ducking Burger, to those outposts last year, but has since closed all three. Alfred, who talked with the Washington Business Journal in 2021 about the strain Covid-19 placed on his restaurant group, could not be reached for comment.
The space previously housed Vintage78 and Scion.