Since the sudden closure of Smokehouse at The Strand, Marctre Freeman has spent much of his time helping the dozens of residents who worked in their neighborhood’s only sit-down restaurant find employment elsewhere.
As Freeman explained, he’s also taken several moments to reflect on what the venue many know as The Strand DC meant to Deanwood community members who are, once again, without a proximate dining and entertainment space.
“They don’t want to go all the way to Maryland. They don’t want to go all the way downtown,” said Freeman, who served as The Strand DC’s general manager. “They treated us with open arms. We never had any violent incidents at all. It was the first sit-down place in that area in a long, long time and they were happy for us to be there.”
In 2023, after a decade of employment at Ivy City Smokehouse in Northeast, Freeman took on the general manager role at the yet-to-be-opened restaurant in Deanwood. That’s where he oversaw the final stages of the space’s renovation and hosted job fairs.
Those events, Freeman said, attracted future employees, some of whom lived in the apartment building of the same name next door, and others within walking distance of the restaurant. For him, those hosts, waiters, servers, bartenders, and line cooks played a part in curating happy hours, Sunday brunches, local boxing matches, and even community forums hosted by elected officials.
“I believe like 60% of our staff were residents,” Freeman told The Informer. “When we first started, it was like literally over 85%. We had a very low turnover when it came to employees, meaning a lot of the people we started with were the same people that were there when I heard about the closure.”
As Freeman recounted, when he and some of his colleagues on July 8 arrived at 5131 Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue NE, it was a building with a look different from what they had known for nearly two years. Hours earlier, after restaurateur Gregory J. Casten failed to settle a monthslong rent dispute with The NHP Foundation, The Warrenton Group, and the Washington Metropolitan Community Development Corporation, who own the building as a joint venture partnership, Casten removed the restaurant equipment and shut down operations.
In the days that followed, Freeman frequently showed up at what’s now a shell of the well-regarded restaurant, doling out checks and speaking to staff members about next steps.
“I’m just still trying to get my mind together because it’s an emotional thing,” Freeman told The Informer. “It’s very difficult because the good thing about The Strand was that it was very metro accessible. A lot of other places in the city aren’t.”
Both Parties Speak About Rent Dispute
Per the Washington Business Journal, Casten owes more than $220,000 in back rent starting from February of 2025. Casten, however, says he’s liable for a little over a third of that amount.
“I acknowledge rent that has gone unpaid [that’s] closer to $75,000 plus a few dollars for some utilities,” said Casten of the Fish & Fire Food Group. “It’s in dispute based on the commencement date and a few other issues that occurred during the build-out that were supposed to be rectified through the rent.”
As Casten explained, Fish & Fire Food Group, founded by him and Dave Pera, agreed to launch a new restaurant at The Strand in 2019. The NHP Foundation, The Warrenton Group, and the Washington Metropolitan Community Development Corporation were renovating the historic theatre on Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue NE.
According to Casten, he wouldn’t be responsible for rent during the first year of operation, and would only have to shoulder half of the monthly amount during the second year. Additionally, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development (DMPED) contributed more than $1.7 million in Food Access Grant funds to help open Smokehouse at The Strand.
In 2020, The Strand Residence, the affordable housing community next door, opened its doors. However, Casten said renovation of the impending restaurant didn’t start until late 2023 due to what he recounted as structural challenges that required additional funds to address. He said his arrangement with the joint venture partners changed at least three times, with him in the end being left to take on more of the financial burden than initially agreed.
“For the original deal, I was out of pocket for equipment only,” Casten told The Informer. “In the end, I supplied the remaining amounts of money that were necessary to get it across the finish line. The total build-out was approximately $3.1 million without equipment.”
For nearly two years, the Strand DC was part of Casten’s portfolio of eateries, including Ivy City Smokehouse, The Point in Southwest, and Nick’s Riverside Grill in Northwest. Weeks after its closure, The NHP Foundation’s Scott L. Barkan says that there’s more to the story than what Casten is alleging.
“It’s not really just about the lease,” said Barkan, The NHP Foundation’s senior vice president. “I think it really has more [to do with] the core financing and [Casten’s] ability to operate a successful restaurant there.”
Barkan, who served as lead developer and project manager of The Strand DC development, told The Informer that Casten was responsible for the full monthly rent, starting from January 2025.
During a process he says started in 2021, not 2023 as Casten alleges, Barkan and his associates used historic tax credits to install new utility lines, stabilize the building, and construct its core and shell. While he acknowledged challenges during construction, Barkan told The Informer that Casten wasn’t responsible for shouldering the associated costs.
“There were some surprises at old historic buildings such as this, and it took us some time and cost us some more money, but we were able to work through them and successfully finish our renovation,” Barkan told The Informer. “Our core and shell work that we did, Greg didn’t pay anything for that. That was all our financing and lenders, and a big part of that was the District of Columbia.”
From its December 2024 launch onward, The Strand DC served as a premiere restaurant and entertainment space in Deanwood where patrons enjoyed flatbread pizzas, smoked wings, crab dip, sandwiches, burgers, along with branzino, salmon, steak, desserts and a variety of libations. Casten told The Informer that, all the while, the Fish & Fire Group struggled to bounce back from construction delays that depleted funds from cash reserves, investors, and money left over from other projects.
“The operational losses in the first year were approximately $300,000, not counting the rent they claim,” Casten told The Informer. “The taxes said $650,000 but that’s depreciation in cash.”
In April, Casten and the joint venture partners took their $228,000 dispute to court where a judge requested monthly status updates about the negotiations. Casten told The Informer that, by June, when he refused to pay the amount that the joint venture partners calculated, the joint venture partners stopped discussions and demanded “immediate sanctions.”
Casten said, by that time, he had already appealed to DMPED and D.C. Councilmember Wendell Felder (D-Ward 7) for assistance, all to no avail.
“I think the developers…were more greedy and more forceful with the city for resolution,” Casten said. “When the city first got involved, they took that posture to pay the landlord to allow me to make a deal going forward. I thought that was unjust, considering I had put more money into the project than the developer and the city had already put significant assets into the project.”
Barkan tells a different story.
“Greg decided, while we were in the middle of trying to renegotiate the leases, to vacate the premises,” Barkan told The Informer. “We’re still hoping that we can negotiate a way to keep him in the neighborhood, but at this point, it’s really up to Greg. We’ve made several offers. He hasn’t responded to them.”
Eight Months of Negotiations That Went Nowhere
Though DMPED didn’t speak directly to conversations had about keeping The Strand DC in operation, a spokesperson said in an email, “We support maintaining a restaurant at this location, recognize the importance of food access in Ward 7, and hope the parties can reach a sustainable resolution that keeps the space active and serving the community.”
Felder, who served as project manager of The Stand development site during his stint with DMPED, told The Informer that the D.C. government played its part in attempting to settle the dispute between Casten and the joint venture partners.
“They assure me that they were trying to pull every lever that they had to ensure that the business stayed operational,” Felder told The Informer.
The Ward 7 Council member spoke of what he called his longtime relationship with Casten, telling The Informer that, upon his swearing into office in 2025, he held his kick-off event at The Strand DC. Months later, toward the end of that year when Felder recounted learning of the rent dispute, he sat down with Casten and the joint venture partners before bringing the matter to DMPED.
“I thought to myself, ‘What can I do to better support the business, promote the business and make sure that that space is being utilized,’” Felder told The Informer. “We sat down with [DMPED] to ensure they understood my position as a council member about the importance of having small and local businesses, specifically those where neighbors can sit down fellowship and gather collectively in Ward 7.”
With Fish & Fire Food Group no longer in the building, Felder revealed plans to work with DMPED and Washington DC Economic Partnership to secure another tenant. Felder also said he wants to leverage his role as chair of the D.C. Council’s Subcommittee on Local Business Development to address larger issues at hand.
“Every deal is different,” Felder said. “I think that the city should do a better job and structuring innovative deals to make sure that with these startup businesses, folks bake in time for the business to grow and expand their clientele.”
Casten expressed similar sentiments, telling The Informer that, during the negotiations, he sought a deal through which, because of what he invested during construction, he could eventually own the building and pass on ownership to staff members.
“My position from the beginning was the project was aimed at bringing a community an amenity and a service that was not there and it was funded by the city,” Casten said. “The restaurant was supposed to be the amenity that they got in exchange for that favorable lease. I felt no rent was really due. They had not ever done what they said in the background of that to keep the deal moving.”
Looking Back: A Place of Employment for Deanwood Residents
For Shawn Little, The Strand DC was the place for authentic Washingtonians striving to make a way for themselves.
“You can always be yourself here,” said Little, 28. “As much as my manager always tells me I’m loud, everybody’s goofy. We all act a clown, but we’re all family. That’s the biggest thing about it.”
Little, a Southeast resident with family roots in Deanwood, worked as a waiter and bartender at The Strand DC from its inception to its final night. She said she learned about the job from her mother, who drove past the building one day. In talking about the restaurant’s closure, she said it turned her world upside down.
“We got a text message the next day saying that the restaurant is closed,” Little told The Informer. “I texted my manager and was like, ‘Is it closed for the day or is it just closed?’ and for him to say it’s closed for good, that was a big bother. I couldn’t come to a realization about it until I actually walked into the restaurant and saw everything being taken down.”
For Little, working at The Strand DC was an experience of a lifetime, even with periods of inactivity.
“My customers are what made it a little bit better at the end of the day,” she said. “I always had my regulars. Even outside the job, they still see and ask questions about the restaurant and what happened. But, there’s really nothing we can do.”
The Strand DC’s closure hits a bit harder for Robin Beverly, a lifelong Deanwood resident who lives next door at The Strand Residence.
“I’m just mad because when I come outside, I’m looking at my job,” Beverly told The Informer.
Beverly, 58, served as a host at The Strand DC. She called her job, one where she greeted patrons as they entered, her first real employment opportunity as an adult. She questions whether she’ll be able to find a new job, especially since she’s a disability benefits recipient.
“It was beautiful,” Beverly said. “Everybody called me Aunt Robin or Mom. [Marc]tre was the first person to get me a start and trust me. I have memories of coming to work every day, just seeing people. Sundays were the best days because it was brunch.”
Former Strand DC bartender Chris Charles said that, even with its benefits, Strand DC’s future was always in jeopardy, especially without additional resources.
“I would hope that the D.C. government would be able to support us in keeping doors open, but I knew it was a risk,” said Charles, a Deanwood resident of seven years. “A restaurant like this would just financially do better downtown or in some of the other pockets and areas that would have more support and access than what’s out there.”
Charles, a public health graduate student at American University, clinched a job at The Strand DC last summer after attending a brunch. He said the job, which has allowed for appreciation for his academic work, has placed him front and center during some of the venue’s more wholesome moments, like events attracting District students and families.
“Not only was it a safe place for people to come together as a meeting place in the area, it was just a nice community hangout,” Charles told The Informer. “People didn’t have to go all the way uptown in order to go grab food or do X, Y, and Z, whatever they wanted to. There were more community events. The money was going back into the community that it needs and serves.”
As one of several employees who lost their job, Charles too has to find another means of earning income. He, however, said he’s given even greater thought to what the Deanwood community has lost with The Strand DC’s closure. He expressed his desire for the expansion of healthy food options in the community, whether through a grocery store or the stocking of fruits and vegetables at corner stores.
“It’s a step backwards,” Charles told The Informer. “It’s one more source of good food that we no longer have access to. Getting to other restaurants from this area is actually hard. It’s not as cheap to order DoorDash or order Uber Eats to this area as it is to other parts of the city. That’s one of the hidden economic costs that most people don’t even think about or consider.”
