As first reported by the Washington Business Journal yesterday, the ABC board is about to release four liquor licenses into the Georgetown moratorium zone. And one of them will be the coveted tavern licenses. But we’ve been down this path recently, and the result may leave many disappointed.
Moratorium
The heart of Georgetown is covered by a moratorium on new liquor licenses. There can be no more than 68 in total, including the inactive licenses being held “in safe keeping”. This moratorium has been in place since 1989, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to be removed any time soon.
There are benefits and drawbacks to the moratorium (that GM has written about here). But the primary impact is that if you want to open a new restaurant in Georgetown, you have to buy one of the inactive licenses on the secondary market. GM has heard from establishments that paid around $90,000 to buy one. This is a significant disincentive for new restaurants in Georgetown.
The Last Gold Rush
Several years ago when the moratorium was being renewed, ABRA and the ANC worked together to make seven new licenses available. This was an acknowledgement of the problem described above. It was hoped that quality restaurants would take the opportunity to snatch up the virtually free licenses.
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