O’Sullivan’s Irish Pub (3207 Washington Blvd) in Clarendon has signed a new lease that will allow it to expand into two adjacent storefronts.
O’Sullivan’s will soon take over the next-door Fragrance World and Sam’s Corner storefronts, owner Anselm Griffiths tells ARLnow.com. Fragrance World will move to a new storefront on N. Irving Street while Sam’s Corner, a deli, will close permanently, Griffiths said.
Griffiths hopes to start construction on the expansion in July. O’Sullivan’s is expected to remain open during most of the construction, which Griffiths hopes will wrap up around mid-September. When it’s all said and done, O’Sullivan’s will expand from about 1,800 square feet to 3,350 square feet. In addition to making more room for concert and happy hour crowds, the new space will allow O’Sullivan’s to focus a bit more on its dining business, Griffiths said.
The popular but often cramped pub first opened as Molly Malone’s in 2004, before Griffiths became an owner and changed the name in 2006. A second O’Sullivan’s location opened in Herndon about two years ago.
O’Sullivan’s and other storefronts along Washington Boulevard and N. Irving Street are not part of the Waverly at Clarendon Station apartment project behind it and will remain open even after the development gets underway, Griffiths said.