With my recent complaint article about Dunkin becoming a “grab & go” instead of a sit-down coffee shop, a number of readers asked about the status of Qualia Coffee.

Back in May 2018, Petworth News first reported that Qualia, located at 3917 Georgia Ave NW, was considering closing sometime in 2019.

One of the reasons Qualia owner Joel Finkelstein was looking to move from the space on Georgia Ave were the deteriorating conditions of the building, which the building owner didn’t want to resolve. Instead, the building was put up for sale, and Joel decided it was prudent to consider moving. At the time he said he would consider staying if someone else bought the building and renovated it, leasing it back to Qualia.

I reached out to Joel to check on status of Qualia’s future, and it sounds like there may be light at the end of the tunnel.

Joel said that the building did sell, and now they are in negotiations with the new landlord to stay in the space and make overdue repairs and upgrades.

“My main goals are to make both the seating area and the space behind the bar more functional,” Finkelstein said, “I also want to add more food options and move the roasting operations to a new space.”

Removing the coffee bean roasting area, currently in the back of the store, would free up space that could be used for more seating. There’s also the upstairs space which is under-utilized (has some mismatched tables and chairs). No word on what changes may come to that space.

So for now… looks like Qualia may be staying in its spot, with caveats for the negotiations with the new landlord and what structural / layout changes they can reasonably make.

I’m sure there’ll be more to come!