Starting next month, HQ DC House will be the latest social club to join DC’s line-up. The invite-only membership house will open April 1 inside Penn Quarter’s historic Oriental Building Association building and double as an all-day co-working and social space.
The city has a swath of members-only clubs, from more old-school ones like The Cosmos Club and The Metropolitan Club to newcomers like The Gathering Spot. But HQ DC House aims to create more of a home-like community for its members instead of the more office-esque setting of newer clubs where people cowork. Plus, the founders, John and Mike Burns of DC-based consulting and marketing agency The Burns Brothers, want it to be a safe space specifically for Black and Brown professionals to work and socialize with others like them. “We’ve always felt that there was a void for a place that we can go to network, collaborate, and grow,” says John. It’s the duo’s first social club.
The almost 10,000-square-foot club, designed by DC-based architecture and design firm Drummond Projects, spans three floors. The second floor, called the House Lounge, is a co-working space with flexible seating areas, a bar, and a conference room. The fourth-floor retreat provides additional room for working, but with a more tranquil vibe including moody lighting and an in-house barista serving coffee, teas, and breakfast pastries. It also serves as a wellness space, where members can take yoga, boxing, and spin classes. Meanwhile, the fifth-floor penthouse has multiple bars and a 16-foot LED video wall for movie nights. “We’re trying to create a home where people can come in the morning and do some work, then transition to a happy hour moment or watching the game on the big screen upstairs,” John says.
The duo tapped Très Creole Catering’s chef Eric Tyson to operate several airport lounge-style food stations featuring dishes like Creole-inspired light bites. Tyson will also lead DC HQ’s bar program, which will feature three-to-four different speciality cocktails every day.
Members must apply and then pay a $299 monthly fee if accepted, along with a $250 one-time initiation fee. Food, drinks, and all of the club’s amenities are included in the price. Members can also bring up to eight guests every month and get access to a weekday chauffeur service to anywhere within three miles of the club, as well as events like MTV Unplugged-like live performances, spa days at Salamander Washington, DC , and group dinners at local restaurants.
But the social club won’t accept applications forever. Membership will be capped at 500 people, and it has 75 members so far. Mike insists that members aren’t selected based on things like salary or status. Instead, applicants are chosen by advisory board members and senior leadership based upon the nature of their careers and how they contribute to their communities. “We want to have a mutual value exchange,” Mike says. “A lot of people coming to HQ are normally those who everyone’s asking to tap in their network, and we want them to be able to receive the same amount of value from others.”
Correction: A previous version of this article stated that HQ DC House spans five floors.
Before becoming Research Editor, Damare Baker was an Editorial Fellow and Assistant Editor for Washingtonian. She has previously written for Voice of America and The Hill. She is a graduate of Georgetown University, where she studied international relations, Korean, and journalism.
