Okay, time for a guessing game - what other tenants will be announced to be part of phase 1 of the Merriweather District?
This is what we know:
The Juniper building is slated to have 57k sqft of retail, which we only know of about ~11k sq ft for Matchbox, Dok Chao Thai Eatery, and Clove & Cardamon (remember, Busyboys has its own building), so there is still 46k square feet left to be announced for phase one in Juniper (and there will be 320k sq ft of retail in total throughout all three phases!)
In the December Baltimore Business Journal article, it was hinted that the next announcements will have several concepts “that Baltimore locals will recognize”.
Given what we have seen so far, I’d guess that local/regional restaurants with multiple locations already with plans for future openings are prime candidates. Can anybody think of any Baltimore based concepts that have multiple locations?
Think about the tenants in major town centers in our region like downtown Silver Spring, Bethesda, Rockville Town Center, Mosiac District in Fairfax, Pentagon City, Shirlington Village, etc and also consider the places/types of food already in downtown Columbia at the mall or lake or elsewhere close by, as these are unlikely to have a second location in the Merriweather District.
In terms of places that I think are needed, I’m sure there will be a proper coffee place, another handful of sit-down restaurants, an ice cream or other dessert type place, and one or more fast casual places. I’d rule out ramen or hot pot given Akira Izakaya and Urban Hot Pot are both set to open soon at the mall, though pho might fit. Oysters might also be a possibility given the Baltimore clue, though we do already have Walrus Oyster & Alehouse at the mall, which I love.
Here’s one guess I’ll throw out: Dangerously Delicious Pies. Another guess: Ekiben, which is getting a ton of national media attention for their steam bun sandwiches and rice bowls at Fell’s Point and they have a second location set to open in Hampden. Other places (not necessarily Baltimore-central) include Nando Peri Peri, Blue Bottle Coffee, Ted’s Bulletin, Sweetgreen, or Lebtav. And last, but certainly not least, and this one probably belongs more on the wish list, is a Jose Andres restaurant, particularly given he came up to Merriweather last Spring to speak at Books in Bloom.Anybody else wager to speculate?
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