D.C.'s Black Rooster Pub will likely close this November after nearly 40 years in business. The pub has been located at 1919 L St. NW since 1970, according to owner Jody Taylor, who has worked at the place since 1972. The original owners of the space decided in the fall of 2008 not to renew the 10-year option on the property. They left the restaurant business and let Taylor purchase the pub in January for $1 on account of his decades of work there. But Taylor, while working to negotiate a new lease, found out soon after that the landlord had offered the option to the Peace Corps., which is the primary tenant of the building. The Peace Corps. accepted, and Black Rooser is required to be out of the space by Nov. 3. "I'm not questioning the legality or anything like that," Taylor said of the takeover of the space. "The only thing I question is, in this down economy, closing down a small business when you don't have to."
Black Rooster Pub loses lease as Peace Corps expands in DC
Black Rooster Pub to close
Washington Business Journal - by Missy Frederick Staff Reporter
D.C.'s Black Rooster Pub will likely close this November after nearly 40 years in business.
The pub has been located at 1919 L St. NW since 1970, according to owner Jody Taylor, who has worked at the place since 1972.
The original owners of the space decided in the fall of 2008 not to renew the 10-year option on the property. They left the restaurant business and let Taylor purchase the pub in January for $1 on account of his decades of work there.
But Taylor, while working to negotiate a new lease, found out soon after that the landlord had offered the option to the Peace Corps., which is the primary tenant of the building. The Peace Corps. accepted, and Black Rooser is required to be out of the space by Nov. 3.
"I'm not questioning the legality or anything like that," Taylor said of the takeover of the space. "The only thing I question is, in this down economy, closing down a small business when you don't have to."
Peace Corps. officials could not be reached for comment.
Taylor, who employs 16 individuals at the pub, spent some time looking for a new space, but he said that unless he found something within a few miles of the original location, he would essentially be starting over, which he doesn't see as a viable business plan.
"The main thing I wish I could do is try to save my staff. They've all agreed to stay with me until the day I look my door," he said.
The restaurant was one of around a dozen originally owned by Ulysses "Blackie" Auger, who owned such D.C. institutions as Blackie's House of Beef. Taylor likens the restaurant to a "Cheers" sort of atmosphere, with many regulars.
"It's the kind of place that caters to everything from executives to attorneys to working folks," he said.
Taylor has started a petition to drum up support for the closing business, which has around 55 signatures currently on iPetitions.com, in the hopes of convincing the Peace Corps. to look elsewhere for office space.
