Don’t get your lederhosen in a twist: Hofbräuhaus is coming.

Local franchisee Kevin Townsell had hoped to have a local version of Bavaria’s famed 400-year-old beer hall open by this year, but those plans have been delayed. He is now targeting a 2017 opening.

The holdup is due to major power and sewer lines buried under the Canalside site of the project, which runs along Scott Street between Main and Washington streets.

Townsell and Benderson Development have been working with National Grid, National Fuel, Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp. and the city to get the utilities moved. Once they’ve been relocated, construction on the five-story building with a beer hall on the ground floor can begin. The building also would have two floors of offices and the top two floors of apartments, according to Eric Recoon of Benderson Development.

“Whatever the timing is, it’s a go,” Townsell said.

Hofbräuhaus will be located across the street from HarborCenter, just south of the new Courtyard Marriott Hotel.

The property will extend along Scott Street from Washington Street to Main Street, adjacent to the small, courtyard fountain park.

Plans call for a 600-seat traditional beer hall, with long wooden tables and benches. Servers wearing Bavarian-style dirndls and lederhosen will serve giant, glass steins of beer. Musicians will perform live German music every night and many weekday afternoons.

The menu will mostly feature traditional German dishes but also will offer some local fare. An outdoor biergarten will seat another 300 people.

Unlike other locations in the franchise, space restrictions prevent the Buffalo site from having its own brewery. Instead, it will serve imported Hofbräu products from Germany.

The original Hofbräuhaus in Munich, Germany, opened in 1589. It’s an international tourist destination famous for its beer gardens and giant Oktoberfest tent.

Its U.S. franchise has locations in Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Cleveland, Kentucky, Florida and Columbus, Ohio.

Townsell owns Shannon Pub in Tonawanda, founded the Buffalo Irish Festival in 1982 and has organized Oktoberfest celebrations as well as other German festivals and beer tastings.

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