Reston Founding Farmers Opening Pushed to Summer 2017

Founding Farmers has pushed back its opening at Reston Station until mid-2017.

The Washington Business Journal reports that that the restaurant will be delayed until next summer.

It was exactly a year ago this week that Founding Farmers announced its plans to open a 10,000-square-foot restaurant in Reston.

Initial estimates from Reston Station developer Comstock and Founding Farmers said the opening would be late 2016 or early 2017, but a peek into the the space last week showed it is still empty and no work has begun.

Founding Farmers will have a large mezzanine, which is complicating the construction permits, Farmers Restaurant Group CEO Dan Simons said.

“The combination of engineering complexities (we’re building a fantastic mezzanine) and the typical permit process labyrinth combined to push the timeline longer than originally planned,” he told WBJ.

Founding Farmers Reston will be on the ground floor of a planned 200-room hotel at Reston Station. No hotel tenant has been signed yet.

Comstock, which is developing Reston Station, is also hoping to sign a large, upscale restaurant for the ground floor space of the office tower that is currently under construction on the plaza.

Farmers Restaurant Group, which has restaurants in DC, Maryland and at Tysons Corner in Virginia, is preparing to open a new property, Farmers & Distillers, in DC.

Rendering of completed Reston Station development/Credit: Comstock