The downtown Wilmington Waffle House is closing permanently because the building is under a nonresidential structure code violation.
Waffle House has been a tenant of the building since before Florence, but that storm severely damaged the roof of the building. While Waffle House was able to recover, the rest of the building didn’t receive the same level of repairs. Windows on the second and third floors have been broken for several years.
Chief Code Enforcement Officer Brian Renner said the Waffle House is the only unit of the building that isn’t facing an order to vacate, close, and repair.
According to the 2022 Finding of Fact and Order for the building, Waffle House Inc. expressed concerns about common access areas and how the poor condition of the building might impact employees.
The building previously experienced a fire, damaging the framing and other structural components. The roof is defective and may admit rain, and there are exposed electrical wires and junctions. And sections of the second story floor have collapsed into the first floor. On the third floor, the floor is rotted and has large holes, and the plumbing has openings and is not fully collected. Strangely, there are also "inflatable pools collecting water from the leaking roof; water is standing in these collection pools," according to the Finding of Fact and Order.
Renner added that the building's owners were first asked to repair the building in April of 2022, but failed to comply. They began receiving civil penalties of $100 per day after missing the September 2022 deadline, and have so far received citations totaling $52,300.
Workers at the Waffle House were emptying out the building Monday afternoon after the order went up, and a sign posted on the door says they’re closing permanently.
Wilmington City Council will consider the ordinance to vacate, close and repair the property at their meeting on Tuesday, September 17.
