Mark says: (5/21/13 1:29 PM)
In every case, those are extremely optimistic opening dates, given the current state of each buildout. My guesses: Bluejacket in September, Nando's in October, Willie's in January, Osteria Morini in November, Agua 301 in October, Nicoletta in April. I hope I'm just being wrongly pessimistic.

JD says: (5/21/13 1:38 PM)
I think the race to be the most pessimistic now is kind of cute. :-)

I don't think Forest City would have been so specific with "June" if they didn't think it was realistic. It might be June 30, and it could still very well slip, but there is a method to the madness when a specific month is mentioned for one location, with the others having a less-specific time frame attached.

JH says: (5/21/13 2:17 PM)
I hope Forest City does know something we all don't, but I find it almost impossible to believe they'll get Bluejacket open in June--even if it's 11:59pm on the 30th. I walk or bike by there several times a week, and while they've made some progress, it just doesn't seem like they are moving that quickly. Gordon Biersch had people in there space practically 24/7 for the two months leading up to their opening--perhaps we'll see a change of pace soon?

JD says: (5/21/13 2:23 PM)
I do think the "say the closest possible date that could happen" is a habit that remains hard to break in the development biz.

JD says: (5/21/13 2:35 PM)
And, guess what, I just got an update from Forest City changing the expected opening time for Bluejacket/Buzz to late July/early August. Pessimists FTW!

JES says: (5/21/13 2:37 PM)
I prefer to call us realists. Remember when the boilermaker renovation was originally announced, and they said things would open in 2012? There's only so much of that people can take. When you're at a restaurant waiting for a table and the host says it'll be 30 minutes, you get a little antsy when you have to wait an hour :)

JD says: (5/21/13 2:48 PM)
The irony in all of this is my unintended position as a cockeyed optimist, considering that nickname at home is The Prophet of Doom.

conngs0 says: (5/21/13 2:52 PM)
I'd say the "over/under" betting potential for these opening dates is pretty awesome, and I'd suspect most would take the "over" on all of the above dates. But I suppose there isn't much incentive for the developers to overestimate these timelines when underestimating just causes people to continue checking to see if your establishment is finished yet.

Nevertheless, all of these projects are pretty exciting, especially because of the variety they're bringing to the neighborhood. Sweetgreen is yet another good edition. And given its location in the same building as the Vida, I'm wonder if there will be some kind of weight restrictions on the residents of 1212. That's gonna be the healthiest block in the entire neighborhood, right?

JD says: (5/21/13 2:53 PM)
Also, when this news was starting to percolate last night, I told Bill that I was glad to hear it was coming--and he reminded me that, as North of the Freeway denizens, we actually already have one, closer to our house than this one will be. (Oh yeah....!) So clearly I'm just addled more than usual these days.

MJM says: (5/21/13 7:27 PM)
I'll stir the pot, who said everything would be open in June because its just that easy to open things.

Looks like that five-month addition to when they said that back in March is gonna come true. Bluejacket has been tweeting and mentioned in article for a probable August opening. Unless the work 20/7 like GB there was no way any of those places were gonna open in April or May.

SoChill says: (5/22/13 1:15 AM)
Is nobody going to mention that Sweetgreen puts street-grade crack in their salads? I mean, how else can they be so improbably delicious?

JES says: (5/22/13 10:42 AM)
That would also explain why the salads are so expensive...

SoChill says: (5/27/13 12:30 PM)
You know what they say: You pet what you're gay for.