1
OLENDER REPORTING, INC. 1100 Connecticut Avenue N.W., #810, Washington, D.C. 20036
Washington: 202-898-1108 • Baltimore: 410-752-3376 Toll Free: 888-445-3376
GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 1
ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE REGULATION ADMINISTRATION 2
ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL BOARD 3
4
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -X 5
IN THE MATTER OF: : 6
Kelemewa Corporation 7
T/A Pure Nightclub & Lounge 8
1326 U Street NW 9
LICENSE #24613 10
RETAILER CN 11
ANC 1B Request for a Change of Hours 12
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -X 13
Wednesday, November 30, 2016 14
15
Whereupon, the above-referenced matter 16
came on for hearing at the Alcoholic Beverage 17
Control Board, Reeves Center, 2000 14th Street, 18
N.W., Suite 400S, Washington, D.C. 20009. 19
20
21
22
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OLENDER REPORTING, INC. 1100 Connecticut Avenue N.W., #810, Washington, D.C. 20036
Washington: 202-898-1108 • Baltimore: 410-752-3376 Toll Free: 888-445-3376
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT 1
DONOVAN ANDERSON, CHAIRMAN 2
NICK ALBERTI, BOARD MEMBER 3
JAMES SHORT, BOARD MEMBER 4
MIKE SILVERSTEIN, BOARD MEMBER 5
JAKE PERRY, BOARD MEMBER 6
7
ALSO PRESENT: 8
ANDREW KLINE 9
DEREGE HAILEGORGHIS 10
11
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OLENDER REPORTING, INC. 1100 Connecticut Avenue N.W., #810, Washington, D.C. 20036
Washington: 202-898-1108 • Baltimore: 410-752-3376 Toll Free: 888-445-3376
P R O C E E D I N G S 1
FACT FINDING HEARING 2
CHAIRPERSON ANDERSON: We now have a fact 3
finding hearing for Pure Nightclub and Lounge, 4
license #24613. Will the parties please approach 5
and identify themselves for the record, please? 6
MR. KLINE: Good morning, Andrew Kline here 7
on behalf of the licensee. 8
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: My name is Derege 9
Hailegorghis, owner of Pure Nightclub and Lounge. 10
CHAIRPERSON ANDERSON: Good morning. I’m 11
sorry, can you repeat your name again for me, 12
please? 13
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: My name is Derege 14
Hailegorghis, D-E-R-E-G-E, last name H-A-I-L-E-G-15
O-R-G-H-I-S. 16
CHAIRPERSON ANDERSON: Hailegorghis. Good 17
morning. There is a -- this is a fact finding 18
hearing. It’s my understanding that the licensee 19
is trying to extend the hours, so I think he’s 20
asking for the operations from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 21
a.m. seven days a week. So, can you please 22
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OLENDER REPORTING, INC. 1100 Connecticut Avenue N.W., #810, Washington, D.C. 20036
Washington: 202-898-1108 • Baltimore: 410-752-3376 Toll Free: 888-445-3376
explain to the board what are the current hours 1
and what is the change that you’re currently 2
seeking and why? 3
MR. KLINE: Yeah, thank you. As the board 4
may be aware, this establishment is about a block 5
from where we’re sitting and is next to where the 6
new JPG project is going up, in fact directly 7
next to it, and it severely impacted this 8
business because the visibility of the business 9
has been destroyed and access from the east side 10
is limited and it’s really hurt the business, so 11
what Mr. Hailegorghis would like to do is expand 12
his business opportunities to include a larger 13
food component and in a sense an internet café. 14
The major part of the request is to open earlier. 15
Right now the licensee’s hours started at 4:00 16
p.m. Mr. Hailegorghis would like to open for 17
lunch and use the facility, as I said, to sell 18
food and also for internet access. He currently 19
has hours until -- permissible hours until 4:00 20
a.m. Friday and Saturdays. He has not taken 21
advantage of that and the reason that came about 22
5
OLENDER REPORTING, INC. 1100 Connecticut Avenue N.W., #810, Washington, D.C. 20036
Washington: 202-898-1108 • Baltimore: 410-752-3376 Toll Free: 888-445-3376
initially, just so the board is aware, is the 1
community had concerns about all of the 2
establishments letting people out at the same 3
time and there was the sense that the additional 4
hour available might assist with that. He hasn’t 5
done that. He hasn’t used that. The late night 6
hours during the week are frankly much less 7
important than the daytime hours because it’s 8
only -- it’s two hours and it would be for food 9
service, but the main food service component, it 10
is hoped, would be successful during the daytime, 11
the daytime hours for this internet café, and 12
that’s some of the background and we’re happy to 13
answer any questions that you have. Anything you 14
want to add to that? 15
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: No. 16
CHAIRPERSON ANDERSON: So, what -- on the 17
weekends he can be open until 4:00 so what time 18
do you normally operate? What time do you 19
operate currently, then? 20
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: Currently from Sunday 21
through Thursday from 4:00 to 2:00 and Friday, 22
6
OLENDER REPORTING, INC. 1100 Connecticut Avenue N.W., #810, Washington, D.C. 20036
Washington: 202-898-1108 • Baltimore: 410-752-3376 Toll Free: 888-445-3376
Saturday from 5:00 to 4:00 a.m. in the morning. 1
CHAIRPERSON ANDERSON: So, you are open until 2
4:00? 3
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: Only the weekend, Friday 4
and Saturday. 5
CHAIRPERSON ANDERSON: I know. I thought the 6
representation was that you didn’t utilize those 7
hours. 8
MR. KLINE: I stand corrected. 9
CHAIRPERSON ANDERSON: Okay, but you actually 10
utilize those hours? 11
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: Yes. 12
CHAIRPERSON ANDERSON: Do you have questions, 13
Mr. Alberti? I’m done, go ahead. 14
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: Can I say something? 15
CHAIRPERSON ANDERSON: Go ahead, are you 16
finished? I didn’t hear you. 17
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: I just want to say we 18
opened our business on December 31st, 1996, 19
almost celebrating 21 years this December, and 20
I’ve never been hurt, the business has been hurt 21
because of this construction now, and trying to 22
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OLENDER REPORTING, INC. 1100 Connecticut Avenue N.W., #810, Washington, D.C. 20036
Washington: 202-898-1108 • Baltimore: 410-752-3376 Toll Free: 888-445-3376
get at least a little revenue in the daytime, why 1
not? You know, I pay rent, so why not I use the 2
space in the daytime, especially in this area, 3
there is nothing going on in the day for an 4
internet café kind of place for breakfast and 5
diner type of foods, and the people that can come 6
in there and then use the internet. I have the 7
space. And that’s what I’m going to do. 8
CHAIRPERSON ANDERSON: Okay. 9
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: I just want to say how 10
long we’ve been in this area. It’s just hurt us 11
so much, all of this construction. 12
CHAIRPERSON ANDERSON: All right, go ahead, 13
Mr. Alberti. 14
MR. ALBERTI: Mr. Hailegorghis. I’m going to 15
give my opinion as one board member, and that is 16
that the daytime hours are not a concern, in fact 17
I think they would be of benefit to U Street, so 18
I’ll just put that out there. Where I have 19
questions is this 4:00 a.m. on Monday through 20
Thursday. It’s not obvious to me how an 21
establishment would utilize the extra two hours. 22
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OLENDER REPORTING, INC. 1100 Connecticut Avenue N.W., #810, Washington, D.C. 20036
Washington: 202-898-1108 • Baltimore: 410-752-3376 Toll Free: 888-445-3376
Can you sort of tell me why you want --or how you 1
would utilize those hours and why it’s necessary 2
for you? Why it’s important for you? 3
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: It’s not that important. 4
The first thought is I’m opening Friday and 5
Saturday until 4:00, why not just do, you know, 6
the rest of the week days, the two hours, I can 7
sell foods and whatever I can get, but that’s not 8
-- 9
MR. ALBERTI: Okay. 10
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: My main is the daytime. 11
MR. ALBERTI: All right, thank you for that. 12
I appreciate that. Thank you. 13
CHAIRPERSON ANDERSON: Yes, Mr. Short? 14
MR. SHORT: Good morning, sir. 15
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: Good morning. 16
MR. SHORT: You’ve been there for 21 years? 17
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: Yes, sir. 18
MR. SHORT: And how would you describe your 19
history in the community? 20
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: We’re a community bar, 21
we’re a neighborhood bar. When I started in 22
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OLENDER REPORTING, INC. 1100 Connecticut Avenue N.W., #810, Washington, D.C. 20036
Washington: 202-898-1108 • Baltimore: 410-752-3376 Toll Free: 888-445-3376
1996, there was nobody around me. 1
MR. SHORT: Yeah. 2
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: When I opened, the first 3
two years, in fact, I lived basically in the bar, 4
sleeping in a sleeping bag and then, you know, I 5
start from there. 6
MR. SHORT: Let me stop you real quick. 7
That’s a little too much information. Just to 8
get the record straight, if you don’t have smoke 9
detectors back where you sleep then you’re 10
violating the city ordinances. 11
MR. ALBERTI: There’s a statute of 12
limitations. 13
MR. SHORT: Go ahead. 14
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: Yeah, so we’re very 15
active. We have every day different things in 16
the club. Especially, there’s an open mic night 17
and then we have a poetry night, which is a lot 18
of young kids coming in there. 19
MR. SHORT: What nights are they? 20
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: We used to do every Monday 21
night, now we do Tuesday night and Wednesday 22
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OLENDER REPORTING, INC. 1100 Connecticut Avenue N.W., #810, Washington, D.C. 20036
Washington: 202-898-1108 • Baltimore: 410-752-3376 Toll Free: 888-445-3376
night, and then we have a lot of young -- 1
MR. SHORT: And that’s what hours? 2
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: That’s from 7:00 to 2:00 -3
- it depends on the list we have, it depends on 4
how many people we’ve got. We have a couple of 5
big artists come out of Pure, if you know Ryan 6
D____, one of the big artists, and W____, they 7
all come from Pure, they start there, they’re 8
young, so we’re giving these kids a chance to 9
come there and then do what they want to do, you 10
know, perform and basically. 11
MR. SHORT: Okay you’re stopping now at 2:00 12
during the week. 13
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: Yes, sir. 14
MR. SHORT: How much traffic is on the street 15
after 2:00 a.m. normally Monday through Friday? 16
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: Not a lot, sir. 17
MR. SHORT: So, you’d be open. What benefit 18
would that be to you and the community? 19
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: I just try to get 20
whatever, you know, the bar’s closed, wherever 21
there’s food they can come in and have food, but 22
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OLENDER REPORTING, INC. 1100 Connecticut Avenue N.W., #810, Washington, D.C. 20036
Washington: 202-898-1108 • Baltimore: 410-752-3376 Toll Free: 888-445-3376
as I said earlier, my main comes in the daytime. 1
MR. SHORT: I can understand the day hours, 2
that Mr. Alberti said very frankly, and I’m only 3
one board member also. I want you to better 4
explain to me what you would do with two extra 5
hours Monday through Thursday on U Street at 3:00 6
and 4:00 in the morning. Sell me the case. Make 7
me believe that if I vote for that I’m doing the 8
right thing for the board and the city. 9
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: Yeah. The, as I said 10
earlier, when the other clubs open -- are closed, 11
you know, everybody -- a lot of places close 12
except the pizza place, the two pizza places are 13
the only places that serve food after 2:00, so 14
I’m trying to get a little bit, you know, 15
whoever’s outside, out there, they can come and 16
have breakfast and a sandwich, whatever they 17
want. 18
MR. KLINE: I mean, just so the board is 19
clear and there shouldn’t be any question about 20
this, we’re very clear that alcohol service stops 21
and the alcohol is put away at 2:00. If the 22
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OLENDER REPORTING, INC. 1100 Connecticut Avenue N.W., #810, Washington, D.C. 20036
Washington: 202-898-1108 • Baltimore: 410-752-3376 Toll Free: 888-445-3376
board were inclined to grant the request from 1
2:00 to 4:00, it would be food service only, and 2
the idea would be to attract people that were in 3
the neighborhood because there’s not -- 4
MR. SHORT: Repeat that again. I’m hearing 5
you, but I’m not hearing you. 6
MR. KLINE: Alcohol service would stop at 7
2:00. Obviously, that’s the law and I want to 8
make sure that there’s no misunderstanding in 9
terms of what’s intended here, and then between 10
2:00 and 4:00 would be simply food service. Mr. 11
Hailegorghis is talking about starting a diner 12
type concept and the idea would be eggs after -- 13
breakfast food -- after the bars close because 14
there are -- you know there are not a lot of 15
people on the street and it’s been many years 16
since I’ve been on U Street at that hour, but 17
there are some and there are people that come out 18
of the bars and people sometimes look for a place 19
to eat and continue their conversations, continue 20
socializing and it’s an attempt to be able to 21
capitalize on that. 22
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OLENDER REPORTING, INC. 1100 Connecticut Avenue N.W., #810, Washington, D.C. 20036
Washington: 202-898-1108 • Baltimore: 410-752-3376 Toll Free: 888-445-3376
MR. SHORT: Okay, with all due respect to 1
you, again to the owner, I want him to make me 2
feel comfortable that between 2:00 and 4:00 it 3
won’t be alcohol sales because you’re not allowed 4
by law, but as you know we have some cases where 5
it happens on occasion, but if he’s not open, 6
then that can't happen. So, I want him to be 7
able to articulate to me and to this board what 8
great, great reasons he has, or good reasons he 9
has, for this board to grant those two extra 10
hours Mondays through Thursdays. I heard what 11
you said but I’m not sold as of yet, so please do 12
your best to influence my vote. 13
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: Okay. I mean, I said the 14
many reasons are that, but when you said this 15
neighborhood is changing, there’s a lot of people 16
that move in this neighborhood that’s so many 17
development and then some of the people they 18
probably go out and eat in the nighttime or 19
early, or whatever time they want to come out, 20
and some of the people on the street, that they 21
want to come there to have conversation and have 22
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OLENDER REPORTING, INC. 1100 Connecticut Avenue N.W., #810, Washington, D.C. 20036
Washington: 202-898-1108 • Baltimore: 410-752-3376 Toll Free: 888-445-3376
coffee, you know, before some of the people they 1
come in to not only the food, to get sober in 2
there or have a drink of water or have a coffee 3
before they drive, before they go home, and have 4
some food. 5
MR. SHORT: Okay, you’ve done, thank you 6
that’s all I need to hear. Thank you, Mr. Chair. 7
CHAIRPERSON ANDERSON: Mr. Perry. 8
MR. PERRY: Just currently do you offer any 9
food in your current hours? 10
MR. SHORT: No just finger foods like chips. 11
MR. PERRY: Chips. So, I assume you’re going 12
to have to install a kitchen. 13
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: Yeah. 14
MR. PERRY: So, food service would be -- so 15
on your website are you going to change the venue 16
to turn it into more of a diner, is that the 17
idea? 18
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: I’m trying to start a 19
diner type of food. 20
MR. PERRY: Okay, so it will no longer going 21
to be a nightclub and lounge. 22
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OLENDER REPORTING, INC. 1100 Connecticut Avenue N.W., #810, Washington, D.C. 20036
Washington: 202-898-1108 • Baltimore: 410-752-3376 Toll Free: 888-445-3376
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: No, it’s going to be a 1
nightclub and lounge. 2
MR. PERRY: But also a diner. 3
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: Also a diner. 4
MR. PERRY: And so you’ll add a kitchen. 5
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: Yes. 6
CHAIRPERSON ANDERSON: Mr. Silverstein? 7
MR. SILVERSTEIN: : Yeah, I was going to ask 8
pretty much what Mr. Perry was asking. You do 9
not have a kitchen in there now, or you do? 10
MR. HAILEGORGHIS: No, we don’t. We have an 11
oven and just got a fryer and a grill and then 12
paid for them. 13
MR. SILVERSTEIN: If you were to amend your 14
application to state that you will have a kitchen 15
and it will operate, and it will operate seven 16
days a week, certainly between 2:00 and 4:00 in 17
the morning, this particular board member would 18
feel a whole lot more comfortable. We do have a 19
situation there where we do allow certain 20
licensed establishments to stay open all night, 21
the diner, and they stop serving liquor, but if 22
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OLENDER REPORTING, INC. 1100 Connecticut Avenue N.W., #810, Washington, D.C. 20036
Washington: 202-898-1108 • Baltimore: 410-752-3376 Toll Free: 888-445-3376
you’re going to be a restaurant two hours a 1
night, five days a week that seems kind of odd to 2
me. I also have a problem that 2:00 is a good 3
closing time in a neighborhood that’s becoming 4
increasingly residential and if this is going to 5
be a venue where people can go and grab something 6
to eat, fine. But I don’t want to allow other -- 7
to open the door to 4:00 closures for all the 8
other places in fairness. I’m just throwing 9
these things out here because what we’re hearing, 10
this is a fact finding hearing and I’m hearing 11
some new things and I’m just trying to settle in 12
my own mind what’s the best way to go here. I 13
don’t feel comfortable saying you can have it 14
five days a week for two hours a night that 15
you’re going to be serving and that you’re not 16
going to be serving on weekday -- on weekends. 17
The application is -- and I’m speaking only for 18
myself as one board member -- the application 19
seems to be a work in progress right now. If 20
you’re going to be a diner, be a diner. 21
MR. KLINE: Well, no. If I may respond to 22
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OLENDER REPORTING, INC. 1100 Connecticut Avenue N.W., #810, Washington, D.C. 20036
Washington: 202-898-1108 • Baltimore: 410-752-3376 Toll Free: 888-445-3376
that. Mr. Silverstein, the idea is -- the 1
concept is -- the current operation wouldn’t 2
change appreciably. The thought is to capitalize 3
on the real estate, take advantage of the daytime 4
hours, and build a diner type business and get 5
known for the diner food, have that available 6
during the daytime hours, but then also have it 7
available when the other bar is closed. I mean, 8
that’s the concept. It’s not to redo the place 9
as a completely different place, it’s to add to 10
the business that’s already there, build on it, 11
take advantage of more of the hours of the real 12
estate that are available. 13
MR. SILVERSTEIN: I want to echo what Mr. 14
Alberti said that the daytime hours, to me, would 15
be of benefit to everybody. 16
MR. KLINE: Sure. 17
MR. SILVERSTEIN: I’m all for that. My 18
concern is the precedent that we set with the 19
2:00 to 4:00 during weekdays and what are the 20
guarantees and what are the benefits to the 21
community versus what are the potential drawbacks 22
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OLENDER REPORTING, INC. 1100 Connecticut Avenue N.W., #810, Washington, D.C. 20036
Washington: 202-898-1108 • Baltimore: 410-752-3376 Toll Free: 888-445-3376
of allowing one place to go to 4:00 and then 1
having to tell others, ‘well, gee, we set this 2
precedent, but it’s not a precedent, but it is a 3
precedent,’ but, you know, and put ourselves in a 4
difficult situation. 5
MR. KLINE: And I think the point is this. 6
It’ll be demand driven. If there’s no market, if 7
there’s no one to eat or to dine then there’s not 8
going to be anybody there and no one else is 9
going to want to do it. I mean, it’s only going 10
to develop and sustain if there’s a market. If 11
there’s no market, then he won’t want to stay 12
open later, nor will anyone else. If there is a 13
market, yeah you might see a few requests but I 14
don’t see everyone doing it because not everyone 15
is going to be willing to make the commitment to 16
food and just to stay open, I mean these 17
businesses exist to make money, we all know that, 18
and if there’s no revenue stream, and there’s 19
certainly no lawful revenue stream from the sale 20
of alcohol after 2:00, then I don’t know why 21
anyone would want to stay open. 22
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OLENDER REPORTING, INC. 1100 Connecticut Avenue N.W., #810, Washington, D.C. 20036
Washington: 202-898-1108 • Baltimore: 410-752-3376 Toll Free: 888-445-3376
MR. SILVERSTEIN: No further questions. 1
CHAIRPERSON ANDERSON: Mr. Short? 2
MR. SHORT: I just have to make a friendly 3
suggestion. Maybe you should go to DCRA and get 4
your kitchen put in and get all those things 5
lined up because now, to me, we’d be putting the 6
horse in front of the -- the cart in front of the 7
horse. If you don’t have facilities for dining 8
and you want to have dining to give you the 9
hours, you have to get a kitchen. 10
MR. KLINE: That’s a pretty expensive horse 11
that you want to put in front of that there cart 12
without permission to operate -- 13
MR. SHORT: I’ll just say this, in all 14
fairness to you, Mr. Kline, again, I as a board 15
member with one vote would think that if you 16
don’t have a kitchen in place and if you don’t 17
have a dining facility available and you want the 18
extra two hours for that reason and you don’t 19
have a kitchen -- 20
MR. KLINE: We’re happy to have you condition 21
any permission for opening upon satisfactory 22
20
OLENDER REPORTING, INC. 1100 Connecticut Avenue N.W., #810, Washington, D.C. 20036
Washington: 202-898-1108 • Baltimore: 410-752-3376 Toll Free: 888-445-3376
evidence that there’s a kitchen in place. I 1
mean, we don’t want to spend the money on it 2
without understanding that the revenue will be 3
available to make it happen and perhaps what we 4
do is pull back, do the daytime and then come 5
back to you on the later hours, I mean that might 6
be something -- I think we’ve made it clear that 7
what’s of most benefit and most concern is being 8
able to take advantage of the daytime hours. I 9
think we’ve made that abundantl clear. We’re not 10
saying, ‘oh, we have to have the nighttime 11
hours,’ so that may be something that we would 12
think about. I think what we want to know from 13
you, and I think I’ve heard it from two board 14
members, is that they don’t see the daytime hours 15
of concern in looking at the substantial change 16
statute I think what that means to me is that 17
there’s at least two board members that are 18
likely to believe that to open here in the 19
daytime would not be a substantial change which 20
means that we could move pretty quickly. 21
MR. SILVERSTEIN: Thank you for your answer. 22
21
OLENDER REPORTING, INC. 1100 Connecticut Avenue N.W., #810, Washington, D.C. 20036
Washington: 202-898-1108 • Baltimore: 410-752-3376 Toll Free: 888-445-3376
That’s all I have, Mr. Chair. 1
MR. ALBERTI: Thank you for putting words in 2
our mouth. 3
MR. KLINE: I inferred from the words that I 4
heard. I didn’t put any words in your mouth. 5
MR. SILVERSTEIN: Mr. Alberti, he may have 6
put words in your mouth but he finished my 7
sentence. 8
CHAIRPERSON ANDERSON: Do we have any other 9
comments by any other board members? The board 10
will take this under advisement. We will make a 11
decision shortly. 12
MR. KLINE: Thank you. 13
CHAIRPERSON ANDERSON: Thank you very much. 14
15
(Whereupon, the above-entitled matter was 16
concluded.) 17
18