Case Study: District of Columbia achieves rapid, compliant alcohol licensing and on-time District Wharf openings with Accela Alcoholic Beverage Control

Washington, D.C. - Responsive, Innovative Alcohol Licensing in the Nation’s Capital

The Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) is the liquor licensing agency for Washington, D.C., overseeing licensing and compliance for more than 3,000 licensees with a staff of about 60. ABRA must balance preserving the District’s historic character while meeting the entertainment expectations of millions of residents and 22 million annual visitors, and it faced a major surge in complex, time-sensitive licensing demands during the high-profile District Wharf redevelopment.

ABRA uses the Accela Alcoholic Beverage Control SaaS solution to digitize applications, documentation, payments, inspections and reporting, enabling concurrent staff workflows and automated recordkeeping. The system helped ABRA meet aggressive turnaround goals (same‑day manager licenses, 2‑week temporary licenses at 100% attainment, 30‑day post‑comment targets), successfully license businesses for District Wharf on schedule, improve operational visibility, and provide a scalable hosted platform for further automation and integrations.

District of Columbia

Sean Gordy

Licensing Program Manager