Busboys and Poets, the restaurant, bookstore and events space with seven locations in the Washington, D.C., area, "is making the leap" to Columbia, Md. Washington Business Journal reported that, at 10,771 square feet, the new space will be the company's "largest and its farthest from D.C. proper."
Located at Mango Tree Road and Valencia Lane, across from Merriweather Post Pavilion, the new Busboys and Poets will have a restaurant with more than 400 seats, a second-floor terrace with outdoor seating, a bookstore and room for private events, readings, open mic nights and other programming. The building is being designed by JP2 Architects.
Owner Andy Shallal said the move to Columbia is an extension of his ongoing strategy to follow his customers to where they are: "I think we have a lot of people that live in the suburbs, who may work in the city, but want to kick back a bit before they go out. It's not practical to go home and come back. So we want to give them options where they are."
The combination of a significant social media following from the Greater Baltimore area and the community in Columbia he's seen since spending more time there was also instrumental in the decision. "It's definitely a very tight community from what I've seen, and being part of that would be a really great opportunity," he said. "When you have a tight community, it's easier to reach them, and easier to create events and programs that the community really wants."
The new Busboys and Poets "will be part of the 35-acre Merriweather District from Howard Hughes Corp., within Downtown Columbia, a massive 14 million-square-foot project set on 391 acres near the music venue," the Business Journal wrote.
"I found Howard Hughes to be very motivated and very supportive, and they really wanted us there," Shallal said. "And that development has a lot of energy behind it."
He told Baltimore Fishbowl: "I wanted to make sure it's a place where racial and cultural connections are constantly uplifted, where people feel a real sense of community, where hate doesn't play out in the day-to-day civic life. All of those things were considerations when deciding to come into a place like Columbia."