WILMINGTON — A popular Southern breakfast chain in a downtown building riddled with years of neglect and deterioration has officially shuttered.
READ MORE: Downtown building condemned after roof collapse, city opens case to ‘track’ situation
The Waffle House located at 255 N. Front St. closed its doors permanently on Monday afternoon. It came upon a notice posted by city code enforcement to its windows that the building faced a “nonresidential structure code violation.”
According to records obtained by Port City Daily, some of the units located in 255 N. Front St. posed a health and safety hazard to the public and occupants; this did not include the Waffle House unit. Though other areas of the building face structural damage.
Spokesperson Dylan Lee for the City of Wilmington explained the code violations date back to September 2022. A case was opened by complaints spurred by area neighbors and the Waffle House tenant. Waffle House noted common areas employees could access lacked handrails, sufficient lighting and safety overall.
A hearing held in April 2022 detailed it would be unlawful to occupy the structure in the same condition after Sept. 11, 2022 unless it was brought back up to North Carolina State Building Code. A report from the hearing indicates three dozen or more points of concern found in common areas, the basement, and first and second floors.
The report indicated the structure exhibited:
- Fire damage from a previous tenant and still affecting structural components
- Water intrusion from upper floors and partial collapse of second floor into loading area
- Pools of standing water
- Multiple broken windows, improperly fixed or covered and open to weather conditions
- Roof defects that cause dampness and leaks
- Cracked walls and masonry
- Brick wall crumbling in front lobby
- Exposed electrical wires and junctions
- Decaying joists and rotting floors
Hearing officer Dolores Williams signed off on the 2022 facts of finding, noting the city would charge property owners in violation $100 a day for failing to bring the building back up to snuff by the deadline. The listed value of the building two years ago was $1.1 million, with the cost to remediate and remain open being roughly 13% of the total — or $153,357.
The report also noted quarterly inspections could be mandated moving forward.
It’s unclear what happened between 2022 and today and whether followup inspections were conducted by the city. Port City Daily asked Lee for clarification but did not receive an answer by press; this will be updated upon his response.
PCD also asked how much in fines were doled out to the property owners but did not receive an answer; WHQR has reported it’s more than $52,000.
A letter was posted to the front windows of Waffle House Monday, as signed by Brian Renner, Wilmington’s city code enforcement officer. It was sent to the building’s numerous property owners including Thomas Monaghan of Adrian Holdings LLC and North Front Street Ventures, LLC, Thomas Simposn of North Front Street Condos, and Judson and Donna Stringfellow. The latter are owners of the Waffle House unit; however, Adrian Holdings acts as its property manager.
The letter also went to Waffle House Inc. in care of Tim Gleeson.
It indicated “the city will consider an ordinance to vacate, close and repair the structure” at its upcoming hearing the third week in September.
No other tenants are currently in the four-story building, the city confirmed.
The history
Constructed in 1902 and known as the Elks Temple Building, 255 N. Front St. has faced myriad problems in the last two decades.
In the ‘90s and early aughts, it was home to various businesses, including encore magazine — the arts and cultural weekly that shuttered during the Covid-19 pandemic — as well as Dead Crow Comedy Room and, perhaps most popularly, the combined music venue and laundromat, Soapbox Laundro Lounge. The latter operated on two floors and brought in many national acts to Wilmington, from Carolina Chocolate Drops to The Avett Brothers.
The building needed major repairs in 2013, including replacement of its air conditioning and windows needing to be sealed. Soapbox owners were strapped financially to keep it afloat and make necessary renovations to the historic building. Then-owner Brent Watkins wrote to the public upon its closure:
“The reality has been that without significant injection of outside capital for the purchase and much-needed facilities improvements, the Soapbox cannot, going forward, continue to operate within its original confines.”
According to New Hanover County property records, he and a group of partners under Boxing Elk LLC purchased 255 N. Front St. for $1.4 million in 2006, before First Federal Bank obtained it for $1.2 million in 2013. A year later, the bank offloaded the building for $500,000 to Front Street LLC, consisting of Murchison Building developer Simpson and Adam Sisk.
In 2018, 255 N. Front St. experienced damage from Hurricane Florence, a Category 1 storm that landlocked Wilmington from the rest of the state due to extreme flooding — 23 inches in 72 hours. The roof of the property was destroyed during the storm and resulted in flooding above the Waffle House. The restaurant shuttered for four months and reopened by winter 2019.
That year North Front Street Ventures LLC, made up of Monaghan — Simpson and Joseph Navolanik were members until 2017 — purchased units in the building for $2 million. In 2022 Adrian Holdings LLC took over the properties.
A few months later, Waffle House then closed again, along with other businesses on the 200 block of North Front Street, due to the impacts of slowing clientele from the North Front Street being shuttered to traffic. It was undergoing construction from the city and Cape Fear Public Utility Authority’s joint project to replace underground stormwater, water and sewer utilities, while also updating curbing, lighting, and landscaping.
The letter the city posted to the windows Monday points to the common area of 255 North Front Street, unit B100, unit 101 and any future development of the condominiums to be affected by the City of Wilmington’s public hearing, as addressed to Adrian Holdings LLC.
According to New Hanover County, renovation and alteration permits have already been submitted to replace floor systems and windows. It cites Adrian Built Homes as the general contractor and Thomas Simpson as the applicant, to upgrade 15 multi-units, making up 17,000 square feet. Renovation costs on the permitting application are estimated to be $250,000.
The county oversees inspections on buildings for the city for new construction or alterations on properties; it last conducted an inspection at 255 N. Front St. for an electrical pole in October 2018, which passed.
City spokesperson Lauren Edwards confirmed to Port City Daily a few weeks ago that both entities have enforcement authority over downtown structures.
“As the NC Building Code authority, the County can take more immediate actions, such as placarding a building, while the City’s process requires several hearings before it can be placarded as unsafe,” she wrote in an email.
Wilmington City Council plans to address the nonresidential code violations at its Sept. 17 meeting.
County is exploring more building inspections
Concerns with failing historic buildings have been top-of-mind as broached to both city council and the county commissioners in recent weeks.
During Tropical Storm Debby, 205 Princess St. experienced a roof collapse, which led to the county condemning the building. Local business Brand Engine lost equipment, furniture, hardware and other business items and went on the record noting it had informed its landlord for years of leaks and other structural issues, yet nothing was corrected.
The destruction prompted Brand Engine owner Justin Mitchener to call on local authorities to consider, much like fire inspections, an annual building inspection.
“There has to be a way to prevent an inevitable catastrophe and insure public safety,” Mitchener wrote to city council.
He particularly was focused on inspections for historic structures that may be overlooked by property owners. Local commissioners and council members told Port City Daily they were open to the prospect.
“I would not be against tightening them up a little bit,” council member Charlie Rivernbark said. “I think the roof collapse is certainly something that, you know, it raises your eyebrow. I mean, that could be deadly.”
Commissioner Rob Zapple, appointed member of the state’s Building Code Council, said the county had the authority to expand its oversight and require annual inspections of commercial property. He was a proponent for annual inspections for historic properties.
After the PCD article was published, County Manager Chris Coudriet wrote to commissioners he was instructing staff to begin researching the framework of how a policy in this regard may look.
“Commissioners, this building collapse, which happened 2 weeks ago, is the second one in the historic district in the last 6 months or less,” Coudriet wrote — the latter referring to the façade collapsing along Grace Street, injuring one person and impacting three businesses that had to close temporarily.
According to the email, the state building code and the county attorney confirmed to Coudriet the governing body can look into other inspection requirements. Coudriet said it fell “squarely on the county” to consider this for review since it conducts building inspections for its municipalities and all the unincorporated areas.
“Public policy in our community around preemptive inspections, especially for buildings that may face elevated risk because of age, is largely silent,” he wrote in the email. “I have no recommendation for you right now, but I believe a recommendation is important.”
Spokesperson Alex Riley for the county confirmed staff is looking into inspections outside of new construction and renovations, but there is no timeline set for when findings will be presented.
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