At Mott's Market, the Lattes Pay for the Paper Towels

For Skinner, Mott's was the shop for a forgotten onion, a box of pasta, emergency toilet paper, or one more bag of ice before a party. The store at 233 12th St. SE, just south of Lincoln Park, closed in March 2022. It reopened on June 23, 2026.

If you've been in since then, you've seen the espresso bar. On one Sunday in July, City Cast reported, the coffee line curled back through the grocery aisles while families ate sandwiches on the new back patio. The coffee line and the grocery shelves come out of the same deal. The shelves are still there because the building's owners require them, and the coffee is how the store pays for them.

The clause that kept the canned beans

The building now belongs to Mott's Neighborhood Market LLC, a group of neighborhood investors led by Skinner. When the LLC leased the space, it wrote a requirement into the operating agreement: whoever runs the store has to keep a market in it. Skinner told City Cast the goal was to "future-proof and save this as a community asset."

That requirement comes with a cost. Peyton Sherwood, the leaseholder and operator, also co-owns Midlands Beer Garden and St. Vincent Wine. He told City Cast that grocery businesses run on slim margins, and that small shops like corner stores have a harder time getting the wholesale prices supermarket chains and big-box stores get. In his words, adding coffee, wine and sandwiches "would pay the bills."

So every latte and pot roast sandwich helps cover the tomatoes, trash bags, diapers, canned beans and paper towels that are still on the shelves. The lease protects the part of the store with thin margins, and the café pays for it.

What's on the counter now

Sherwood redesigned the room. He and Skinner talked about removing a wall and staircase that split the space in half, and his plan centered on an espresso bar and an open kitchen in the back for sandwiches and breakfast burritos. Here's what local coverage since June has turned up:

• Coffee: Counter Culture, poured at the espresso bar. Eater's Capitol Hill guide, updated August 18, also lists affogatos.
• Morning: WTOP's report from the grand reopening listed pastries and breakfast burritos.
• Sandwiches: Hill Rag's June feature named chicken salad, roast beef, chicken parm, a fried-eggplant souvlaki with tzatziki, tomato tapenade, cucumber and pickled red onion, and a Mississippi pot roast. That last one is peppercorn roast beef on a French roll with aged provolone and comeback sauce.
• Evening: Beer and wine by the glass, about 80 wine labels to take home, cheese and charcuterie platters, and wine Wednesdays according to Eater.

Sherwood told City Cast he wanted the place to feel like it had "been here since the '60s." The room has exposed red brick, a toy train running on a track along the ceiling, a poster from the movie D.C. Cab, and an antique pedal car he found on Facebook Marketplace.

The store's online ordering page currently lists hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. It's closed Mondays. The kitchen and on-site alcohol service stop 30 minutes before closing. Hours can change, so check Mott's Market's website before making a special trip.

How a corner store ended up with roughly a hundred owners

The building was a store long before it was Mott's.

1. 1916: The building went up as a shop with a home on the second floor for Samuel Gotkin, according to Hill Rag.
2. By 1969: The shop was going by the Mott's name. Troy Mott took it over in 1984.
3. 2009: Ki and Roy Cho began running the store.
4. March 4, 2022: The store closed. Ki Cho told Hill Rag that slow business, pandemic effects, supply problems and rising operating costs were behind it.
5. October 2022: The neighbors' LLC, backed by a commercial loan, bought the building for $1.31 million.
6. December 2023: Sherwood was chosen to run the store, with plans for made-to-order sandwiches, coffee, pastries, wine and beer.
7. June 2024: Sherwood agreed to lease terms.
8. June 23, 2026: Doors open. The grand reopening party followed on August 11, with Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen expected, live music from the Capitol Hillbillies, and a 6-foot sandwich cutting.

The investor setup is simple. Each $1,000 buys one unit, and each unit carries one vote. Skinner told City Cast that investments ranged from $5,000 to $50,000. The reopening press release put the number of neighborhood investors at 94. City Cast's count was about 140 people when couples are counted as two. Either way, a lot of the people buying sandwiches at that counter also have a vote on the building.

Why it took four years, and why that raised the stakes for the café

Buying the building was the quick part. City Cast reported that permits, conflicting requests from city reviewers, and a new sprinkler system delayed the opening by at least two years. The sprinkler system meant digging up and replacing the water main under the street. DC Water said that main went in 1891. The utility blamed many of the delays on things outside its control, including weather and DDOT permits that expired and had to be renewed. A Department of Buildings spokesperson said the approvals "did take longer than expected due to internal and external factors."

"It was this labyrinth of red tape that was very difficult for a community-based organization to work through, even with hiring expediters for this. If this weren't a group community effort, I could very easily see someone giving up."

Michael Skinner, speaking to City Cast DC

The delays added hundreds of thousands of dollars that weren't in the budget. The group had to open a line of credit and go back to investors for more money. That's why the counter matters. A building that cost $1.31 million, plus a long list of surprise expenses, needs a tenant whose business can keep up. The grocery aisle alone, with its slim margins, would have a hard time doing that. The coffee, sandwiches and wine are how this corner store can afford to be one.

While they waited, the group kept the space busy with art shows, a fall festival and a "Winter Wonderland" party with Santa and crafts for kids. This October is the first fall in more than four years that Mott's is open for business.

Mott's on this month's calendar

Mott's is on one of October's biggest neighborhood events, and it's a few blocks from several others.

• Saturday, Oct. 10, 2 to 6 p.m.: Capitol Hill Porch Fest is free and runs across Capitol Hill, Hill East, Lincoln Park and Barracks Row. The Porch Fest schedule lists 233 12th St. SE as a music stop, with In Search of Groove at 2 p.m. and the Foggy Bottom Whomp-Stompers Jazz Band at 4:15 p.m. Mott's Saturday hours cover the whole afternoon.
• Saturday, Oct. 10, 5 to 7 p.m.: Historic Congressional Cemetery holds its Dead Man's Run 5K fundraiser. It starts at 1801 E St. SE and continues onto the Anacostia Trail.
• Saturday, Oct. 24: Eastern Market Main Street launches its Haunted Hill Scarecrow Decorating Competition. Entries are scarecrows at home addresses on a map, and judging happens the week before Halloween.
• Saturday, Oct. 24, 3:30 to 6 p.m.: Hill Family Biking's Halloween Ride starts by the Lincoln statue in Lincoln Park and ends at the Eastern Market Metro plaza, with live music and a costume contest.
• Friday, Oct. 30, 4 to 6 p.m.: Hill-O-Ween is at Eastern Market, 225 7th St. SE. The organizers say more details are coming.

Eastern Market's outdoor market runs on weekends from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Tuesdays from noon to 4 p.m. Eastern Market Main Street has also listed a "Holly Days" program for November and December, without dates so far.

One thing to know about Halloween weekend: Mott's closes at 3 p.m. on Sundays, so an afternoon coffee or a last bag of candy on Sunday has to happen before then.

At The Tom Buerger Team, we love a story where neighbors chip in to keep their corner store, and Mott's is a good one. If you're on Capitol Hill and starting to think about a move, whether that's staying within walking distance of 12th Street or somewhere new, we're happy to talk it through over a coffee at Mott's.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.