As first reported by Essex County Place, Newark’s growing downtown will soon be home to another market.
Lonnie Soury, who represents the Newark-based RBH Group, LLC, tells Jersey Digs that a “‘first-of-its-kind’ Italian-inspired fresh food marketplace” is set to open within the new Teachers Village development along Halsey Street. Soury says the business will be run by Aldo Sartore of Manhattan-based ITA Concepts, which is currently finalizing a transaction with RBH. Sartore is “the co-founder of the Eataly vision,” according to Soury, referring to the Italy-based marketplace chain with dozens of locations worldwide, including nearby in Downtown Manhattan and the borough’s Flatiron District.
What the 10,000 square foot market and restaurant in Newark will be known as is currently unclear. Carmelo Garcia, the Executive Vice President and Chief Real Estate Officer of the Newark Community Economic Development Corporation, told Jersey Digs that the business would be an Eataly location, but company spokesperson Brianna Buford stated that it “will not be an Eataly location, nor will it be an Eataly marketplace without the Eataly name,” and that “while Eataly is always looking to expand into new markets, there are currently no plans to open in Newark, NJ.”
This news comes at a time when the City of Newark is transitioning from being a ‘food desert’ to a center with a variety of grocers. In recent years, Food Depot, Save-A-Lot, and ShopRite have opened locations in the city, and Whole Foods Market opened this week in the Hahne and Company Building downtown.
Soury told Jersey Digs that the marketplace is expected to open in Newark at some point near the end of 2017 or at the beginning of 2018, adding that “we look forward to welcoming this innovative concept to Teachers Village and the burgeoning Newark restaurant scene.”
