Planned Navy Yard Beer Bar Is No More

Virginia-based Metropolitan Hospitality Group (MHG) is no longer bringing neighborhood bar Open Road to Navy Yard.

Management tells Eater the company still plans to open another dining establishment in red-hot Southeast, but says it’s priorities have shifted. “We’re actually changing the Open Road concept and launching a new concept altogether,” management says, adding that details about the developing venture would be revealed “soon.”

Meanwhile, the forthcoming Circa that MHG first floated in September 2015, is just now getting underway. Management says construction at that location (99 M Street SE) is now scheduled to begin this summer, with an opening projected before the end of the year. Australian coffee chain Bluestone Lane, which has already opened two locations in D.C., has signed on to bring one of its cafes to the same building.

Circa’s most recent addition is its two-story outpost in Chinatown. The original Dupont Circle location closed late last year.

• Global Chain Bluestone Lane’s West End Shop Is Adding Alcohol Soon [EDC]
• Largest Circa to Date Debuts in Chinatown on February 21 [EDC]
• Dupont’s Original Circa Is Closing December 31 [EDC]
• Local Beer and Burger Haven Doubles Its Expansion Plans for 2018 [EDC]
• D.C. Is Getting Another Circa, This Time in Navy Yard [EDC]