The bidding process for the tenth auction for expired restaurant licenses is now open. The Commonwealth is offering 25 expired restaurant licenses in a sealed bid auction. There will be one license offered in each of the following counties: Armstrong, Beaver, Berks, Blair, Bradford, Cameron, Carbon, Clearfield, Clinton, Crawford, Dauphin, Delaware, Erie, Greene, Indiana, Lebanon, Monroe, Montgomery, Northampton, Philadelphia, Schuylkill, Somerset, Washington, Wayne and Westmoreland.
Bids for the available licenses are due in Harrisburg by noon on Monday, March 16, 2020. The sealed bids will be opened Thursday, March 19, 2020 and auction winners will be determined soon thereafter. Please note that the minimum bid amount for each license is $25,000, and each bid must be accompanied by a bid surety of $5,000 or 5 % of the total bid amount, whichever is higher, to avoid frivolous and underfunded bids.
The highest responsive bidder for each license will win the right to submit an application for the license to the PLCB within six months of auction award. If bid payment is not received within two weeks of auction award, the second-highest bidder will have the opportunity to apply for the license. Bids will be held in escrow by the PLCB, pending approval of the license application.
Please call us if you are interested in bidding; there will be future auctions even if you cannot take advantage of this one.
— J. Ken Butera