The home of Call Your Mother’s Georgetown operation has sold, just days before a local board is expected to issue a key ruling that could decide whether the deli is allowed to remain there.
An LLC managed by Bassem Boustany, co-founder of MCN Build, paid $1.7 million cash for the two-story 3428 O St. NW, according to deed records. Call Your Mother, the popular "Jew-ish deli" co-owned by Andrew Dana and Daniela Moreira, has operated from the ground-floor since July 2020 under a 10-year lease, and there are apartments above. The sale worked out to just shy of $900 per square foot.
"We are excited for a new owner who is committed to keeping us there for the long haul, and look forward to working together to ensure we can make that a reality," Dana said in an email.
Boustany, whose acquisition was unrelated to his role at MCN Build, “was drawn to the asset because of the tenant mix, the strength of Call Your Mother as an anchor tenant, and the desire to move funds from the equity markets to high-quality real estate,” according to Feldman Ruel, which brokered the deal.
On Nov. 13, the Board of Zoning Adjustment is expected to rule on a request for a special exception to continue Call Your Mother’s operations in that building. The BZA had previously granted the deli, located on a residential block of Georgetown, a variance to run a corner store there, but neighbors, who say the business has led to “objectionable conditions” — loitering on homeowners’ stoops, littering, etc. — sued on a host of grounds. The D.C. Court of Appeals vacated the variance in August 2022 and remanded the case.
“Call Your Mother, while they are a high-performing tenant, is on a long-term lease with no annual increases and no guaranty,” Ian Ruel, a managing principal at Feldman Ruel, said in a statement. “These factors, along with the well-publicized ongoing zoning dispute, made it challenging to find a buyer." Its connections in the local market, however, allowed the broker "to find a niche investor that was comfortable with the zoning risk and the return profile of the asset," Ruel continued.
The property, built in the 1800s, was sold by an out-of-town owner whose family had held the property for decades. The family “elected to dispose of the property in part because of the strong demand for Georgetown real estate, and also because of the uncertainty surrounding Call Your Mother’s continued ability to operate out of the space,” Feldman Ruel said.
In April, Dana and the then-property owner returned to the BZA seeking a special exception to operate a corner store at 3428 O selling bagels, bagel sandwiches (made offsite and reheated in Georgetown) and other to-go items. More than 200 exhibits have now been filed in that case, including entire chains of Next Door conversations, dozens of letters representing either side and food inspection reports. Among the exhibits is a list of conditions Call Your Mother has agreed to, including daily private trash pickup, signage asking customers to eat off-site, weekly pest-control visits and a pledge to "never apply for, request or have outdoor seating."
“We chose this residential area with the expectation that it would not dramatically change as a result of commercial creep,” more than 20 neighbors wrote in a Sept. 1 letter to the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission, urging the ANC to oppose the special exception request. “For most of us, this is the biggest purchase of our lives and we believe the zoning laws should protect those purchases. If CYM pushes to get their way and is awarded this zoning relief, we worry about what happens as other investors and corner stores throughout DC realize that they can commercialize a residential zone, pay much cheaper rents than in commercial corridors and set up eating establishments without seating or even restroom facilities.”
The Georgetown community isn’t monolithically opposed to Call Your Mother’s continued operation on O Street.
“The presence of CYM adds to the charm and appeal that visitors and residents alike seek when they come to our “urban-village” of Georgetown,” Christopher Itteilag, an O Street homeowner, said in one BZA exhibit. “CYM’s operations are respectful and in keeping with the neighborhood’s character. This business fits seamlessly within our environment, enhancing the residential quality of life. They have been our neighbor now for over 4 years and have become a part of our neighborhood identity in the best of ways.”
As it fights to remain in Georgetown, Call Your Mother is expanding elsewhere. In August, we reported the deli has inked a lease for a 1,600-square-foot storefront at 1484 North Point Village Center in Reston, what will be its fourth location in Northern Virginia and 17th overall spanning D.C., suburban Maryland, Virginia and Colorado.