Commercial leases, like most contracts, are subject to interpretation. Clauses and terms that may seem clear at the time they are drafted can later become ambiguous, or subject to more than one understanding, especially when words on paper become applied to real life situations. Or the terms may be unclear on their face, and such […]
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DC Restaurant Owners Learn the Hard Way How Important a “Very Good Lease” Is.
A dispute with its landlord has caused the abrupt closure of a popular Columbia Heights restaurant. Apparently, the dispute was brought to a head when the landlord refused to sign off on the restaurant’s liquor license application, which is a requirement under DC law. Now the parties have sued (and counter-sued) each other in DC […]
Read more...Lawsuit: DC Waterfront Developers Trying to Drive Us Out of Business
In a federal lawsuit filed last month, the owners of two fish markets and a seafood deli located at the Maine Avenue waterfront in Southwest Washington, DC, have sued the developers of the massive “Wharf” project for violating their lease and trying to drive them out of business. As expected the lawsuit has gotten significant media attention, […]
Read more...Things To Consider Before Signing a Restaurant Lease: Exclusive Use Provisions
Most well-negotiated restaurant leases contain a provision that states the tenant has exclusive rights to sell a certain style of food – e.g. that tenant will be the only one in the shopping center who can sell fast casual Mexican or sit-down Mediterranean or carry-out Chinese. If you do not have an exclusivity provision, there […]
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Things To Consider Before Signing a Restaurant Lease: Liquor Licensing
Restaurants have a notoriously high failure rate and, for many restaurants, their fate is sealed at the time they sign their lease. If a restaurateur is not careful, she can be saddled with lease terms that make the restaurant’s success even harder than it need be. It is absolutely critical to identify those lease terms […]
Read more...Liquor License Provisions in “Fast Casual” Restaurant Leases
The Washington Post has an article today on the proliferation of Chipotle-inspired “fast casual” restaurants that allow customers to customize their meals with a variety of fresh ingredients. The article notes that, while more traditional fast food establishments (think McDonalds or Wendy’s or Taco) are struggling to find new opportunities for growth, fast casual restaurants are booming. […]
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