Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Y&H: Granville's Expanding Any Which Way It Can

Young and Hungry talked to Granville's Teddy Folkman about the restaurant's upcoming expansion, and got a some interesting answers. A while back there was speculation that Granville's would expand into the second floor of what used to be the H Street Martini Lounge. I can confirm that negotiations did take place, but they did go anywhere. Both Joe Englert and Erik Holzherr (who bought the building) have said that Granville's is not planning to move into the second floor. Holzherr, who recently opened Fruit Bat on the first floor, has his own plans for the upstairs space. Besides, news came out later that Granville's would expand by digging out its basement (adding an undetermined number of seats).

But in the Young and Hungry piece Folkman is quoted as saying “We don’t know if it’s going to be downwards or sideways, but it is definite that we’re going to expand." He also says they want to add 26 seats. That's a lot if you consider the size of Granville's. And the "sideways" bit? It sounds like they are talking to the owner of the vacant space on the right. The building owner currently lives upstairs, but the first floor is vacant. I know that in the past he's been reluctant to enter a long-term lease. Hopefully that's changed, and we'll get two benefits:
1. a larger Granville's; and
2. one less vacant space on H Street.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

maybe they can just open up a space up here in bloomingdale/eckington. we got lots of empty space.
; )

Anonymous said...

@Anon 2:39- that sounds like a great idea. this comes from someone who lives in Trinidad

Anonymous said...

Then there would actually be something to do in Eckington.

Anonymous said...

might be old news, not sure, but i just read that the giant is confirmed for 3rd and h.

Anonymous said...

temiseckington get a life.

Anonymous said...

Anon@5:27, where did you read that it is official? Last I heard it had been "leaked" by an anonymous executive with Giant, and Steuart (the developer) wasnt willing to confirm or deny.
-Jordan

Anonymous said...

Jordan,
for some reason i'm on the email list of this Real Estate company.
http://hometryst.com/
they sent out an email this morning about the giant.
"We here at HomeTryst are very excited to hear the news that Giant has confirmed the location of a new store in Washington, DC; 3rd and H Streets NE. This is a much-needed addition to a quickly growing neighborhood, which will make the area even more attractive to both current residents and potential homebuyers. Full details on the size and scope of the physical store are still forthcoming. Thanks to Michael Neibauer (@mjneibauer) from the Washington Business Journal for breaking this news on his twitter account today."

inked said...

Anon 5:27/9:22 is correct. Someone forwarded me the email.

Anonymous said...

ugh, i just checked that guys twitter feed and he posted this:
http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/blog/2010/09/giant_at_3rd_and_h_ne_yes_no_maybe.html

stupid drama.

inked said...

Yeah, annoying. But I'm pretty sure this is coming.

Hillman said...

You know things are looking up when a restaurant is considering the costly step of digging out a basement to add space.

Good for them.

Alan Page said...

You know things are looking up when a restaurant is considering the costly step of digging out a basement to add space.

Good for them.

^ agreed and agreed.