A late-night treat is in store for residents of Downtown Jersey City as Insomnia Cookies is bringing their cookies, brownies, and more to a storefront just off Newark Avenue.
Per the Historic Downtown Special Improvement District, Insomnia Cookies will be taking the ground-floor space at a former firehouse property at 244 Bay Street. Jersey Digs profiled the restoration effort earlier this year, which comes courtesy of Wayne Development Company.
The property itself was built in the 1840s era and served as the city’s fire headquarters between 1871 and 1933. Two residences plus ground-floor retail are going into the property, which will rework an existing firehouse door into a large, windowed storefront.
Insomnia Cookies was born in 2003 in a University of Pennsylvania dorm room by founder Seth Berkowitz and his roommates, who were tired of ordering the same late-night pizza delivery and started baking their own cookies. The shop eventually opened their first brick and mortar store in Syracuse, NY, expanded to New York City and beyond, and currently runs over 200 stores.
Highlights at Insomnia Cookies include their s’mores and chocolate peanut butter cup varieties, along with several brownie options. The shop also lets customers create a “cookie’wich” by adding ice cream to the festivities and features several vegan cookie options.
The upcoming Jersey City spot will be Insomnia Cookie’s second Hudson County location behind an outpost on Newark Street in Hoboken that opened about a decade ago. The shops are known for their late-night hours, staying open until 3 a.m. in many locations.
An estimated opening date for the Jersey City Insomnia Cookies has not been announced, but the building’s conversion from a firehouse to a mixed-use complex is still underway.
