Photo by M01229.
Washingtonian has an absolutely saucy story out this week on the sorry story of the train wreck that was Serendipity 3 in Georgetown. It’s a fantastic read, and for many Georgetowners like GM it helps fill in the story that we knew the contours of, but not the details. (And this makes two stories in three months where Washingtonian dished on Georgetown’s dirt laundry. Let’s hope that’s a sign of more good things to come.)
But the article missed the saddest part of the story: that it shouldn’t have happened in the first place. Nathan’s shouldn’t have closed in the first place. As you may recall, the last months of Nathans’ existence involved Carol Joynt fighting with the landlord to work out a deal to stay open. Her rent was $30,000 a month. That was too much for her, but the landlord was unwilling to agree to an arrangement that was acceptable to Nathans. So despite a temporary lease extension, Joynt exercised a termination clause and closed Nathans.
So did the flashy replacement for Nathan’s pay as much or more? Nope. The legal papers indicate that they only paid $18,000. And they didn’t really pay all of that, seeing as they were sued for over $100,000 by the landlord for unpaid rent.
If the landlord had just offered the same deal to Nathans and not let grudges get in the way, Nathan’s might still be open. Sure, Kevin Plank of Under Armour may have still ended up buying the place (Joynt reported that he was long interested in the place) and maybe that would spell the end of Nathan’s regardless. But you never know. And besides, we’d have had five more years of the place to enjoy.
The Georgetown Metropolitan 