Happy Bear Coffee and Carlino’s Bites to Open New Location at Philadelphia’s Navy Yard.
In a significant addition to the ongoing redevelopment at the Navy Yard, Happy Bear Coffee Company has announced the opening of its first physical location at the site, slated to welcome customers early next year. This new coffee shop and wine bar will occupy a 3,000-square-foot space on the ground floor of 1201 Normandy Place, a mixed-use lab building designed to accommodate life-science tenants focused on areas such as gene and cell therapy research.
This collaborative venture between Happy Bear and Ensemble/Mosaic, the developers behind the Navy Yard transformation, aims to provide a diverse menu that includes specialty coffee, wine, and a range of grab-and-go food options. The café will feature sandwiches, breakfast items, soups, salads, flatbreads, and a tomato pie developed in partnership with Carlino’s, a renowned specialty-food purveyor based in Ardmore.
The café will highlight both indoor and outdoor seating areas, offering patrons views of the adjacent five-acre Central Green Park. This versatile setting is intended to cater to a variety of customer experiences, from morning coffee and quick lunch breaks to evening wine gatherings. The founders of Happy Bear, Dan Kredensor and Frank Orman, envision the café as a space that fosters daily rituals and acts as a retreat for the community.
The strategic inclusion of Happy Bear Coffee Company is indicative of the kind of vibrant, community-oriented retail development that stakeholders believe will characterize the Navy Yard as it evolves. Ensemble Real Estate Investments, in collaboration with Philadelphia’s Mosaic Development Partners, was selected in 2020 to spearhead a projected .5 billion redevelopment of the 109-acre site, which has already seen the construction of new facilities valued at approximately 0 million.
The Navy Yard currently hosts over 150 companies, employing around 16,000 individuals, including notable tenants such as Urban Outfitters and Jefferson Health. Additionally, plans for future development aim to incorporate nearly 4,000 new apartments, along with 235,000 square feet of retail and over 4.2 million square feet of office, research, and manufacturing space, as outlined in the redevelopment plan for 2022.
As the Navy Yard continues its evolution from a former military base to a thriving mixed-use community, the introduction of establishments like Happy Bear Coffee Company is poised to enhance the overall experience for both residents and workers in the area, reinforcing the site’s status as a dynamic hub for innovation and collaboration.
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