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Town Center to get more dining options
Reston Town Center is poised to become an even greater dining draw with several restaurants opening in the new South of Market development and in existing spaces in the older heart of the center.
Boston Properties' South of Market has signed three leases for restaurants and is finalizing a fourth. Confirmed leases include Mon Ami Gabi, Passion Food LLC and Great American Restaurants.
Mon Ami Gabi is a French steakhouse concept that has other locations in Bethesda, Chicago and Las Vegas.
Passion Food LLC, a company that owns D.C. restaurants Ceiba, D.C. Coast, Acadiana and TenPenh, will open its fifth restaurant. The eatery is yet to be named but will be a seafood restaurant, according to Boston Properties Senior Project Manager Pete Otteni.
Great American Restaurants, the chain that owns Sweetwater Taverns, The Carlyle, Artie's, Mike's and Coastal Flats, will call its new restaurant "Jackson's." It will feature a menu similar to those of the company's other restaurants.
Otteni said interest in the available spaces was extremely high.
“There was a lot of interest,” he said. “We were in the enviable position of being able to take our pick.”
John Asadoorian, who handles the South of Market retail leasing, said a fourth lease is about to be finalized for a restaurant called The Counter, a chain that serves customized hamburgers.
The four restaurants add to an already healthy list of options at the town center. Thirteen full-service restaurants are currently open, not counting casual eateries such as Yum Yum Cafe, Starbucks and Panera Bread. Two recent closings, Ruby Tuesday's and WrapWorks, have left open spaces with leases that are in the works but not yet finalized.
Jen Rueling of Cassidy Pinkard said the contracts were delayed after Equity Office properties, including the town center, were bought by The Blackstone Group.
Because the leases are not yet signed, Rueling declined to comment on which restaurants may be filling the two spaces.
Rumors have included speculation of a Marvelous Market in the old Wrapworks space and a White Chocolate Grille in the Ruby Tuesday's space.
With the mounting number of eating options, Otteni said, Boston Properties was careful to make sure the new additions wouldn't cannibalize the older establishments.
“We tried to take into account what was there – we actually polled the tenants to find out what people thought was missing,” he said.
Construction will finish on South of Market late in the first quarter of 2008, and the restaurants there are scheduled to open in late summer or early fall. With the development will come 2,400 additional below-grade parking spaces.
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