What happens to a restaurant's lease-tied liquor licence if the new owner wants to change the concept?

Changing the concept of a restaurant after a sale can affect both the lease and the liquor licence, and the two need to be checked separately rather than assumed to move together automatically. On the lease side, commercial leases sometimes restrict the permitted use of the space to a specific type of business or even a specific concept, so a landlord's consent may be needed not just to assign the lease to the new owner but to actually change what kind of restaurant operates there, and the Commercial Tenancies Act's protection against unreasonably withheld consent applies to assigning the lease itself, not necessarily to a change of use.

On the liquor licensing side, a significant change in concept — different hours, different capacity, a different type of establishment (say, from a quiet dining room to a late-night bar) — can trigger a fresh review or amendment of the licence conditions, since approvals are often tied to how the premises actually operates, not just who holds the licence.

Confirming both the lease's permitted-use terms and the regulator's position on the intended changes before finalizing the concept change protects the new owner from opening in a way that turns out not to be authorized.