A new quick service restaurant has been proposed for the Dulles Landing shopping center in southern Loudoun and — while we don’t officially know what restaurant is interested in the spot — one particular number indicates it could be a Chipotle.
It’s been a while since we had a good Morning Mystery where we break down a hunch into individual pieces. Follow along…
• This past week, a law firm filed papers with Loudoun County seeking to clarify whether a parcel of land at 24575 Dulles Landing Drive in the Dulles Landing plaza would be a permissible site for a restaurant with a drive-thru.
• Sitting near the Walmart store, that parcel of land — which is already paved — currently has four drive-thru lanes, but no building. It looks like it was meant to be a bank at one time, but the bank never got built.
• The most telling thing in the filing however is the site plan of the proposed restaurant and the square footage. It says that the building would be 2,325 square feet.
• The Burn’s chief online researcher — codename “John” — soon discovered that 2,325 appears to be the model size for new standalone Chipotle restaurants. A quick Google search shows Chipotles with that exact square footage planned for Memphis, Tenn., Hershey, Pa., Kearney, Neb., and many other places.
• Then consider that Chipotle continues to grow in the our area (a new one is under construction at the Shops at Compass Creek in Leesburg) and that the entire South Riding/Stone Ridge/Arcola area is a Chipotle desert, and that the area around Dulles Landing is growing quickly, especially with the Arcola Center project next door picking up speed — and it seems like a logical spot for Chipotle to explore.
As always with our patented (not really) Morning Mysteries, we have to stress this is conjecture based on the facts that we have presented. Even if Chipotle is the entity interested in that spot at Dulles Landing, it doesn’t mean it will get the green light from the county. But we will keep an eye on it and let you know if things progress.
(Image at top: Chipotle)
Comments are closed.