How’s this for a You Pick Two? Panera Bread Co. is getting a new Grandview Yard bakery-cafe and Cameron Mitchell is getting an old Panera.
Panera is taking a to-be-built 3,850-square-foot building on the north side of Third Avenue next to the Giant Eagle Inc. supermarket under construction in Nationwide Realty Investors’ expanding mixed-use development.
In taking that new space, Panera will give up its 1307 Grandview Ave. site, which Cameron Mitchell Restaurants LLC plans to take (more on that here).
Liz Fiorino, regional marketing director for Warren-based Panera franchisee Covelli Enterprises Inc., said the move to a standalone building allows Panera to upgrade to its latest store design and add a drive-through. It’ll also be an easier parking situation for patrons versus the Grandview Avenue site – as anyone who has ventured to it during a busy lunch hour can attest.
The new bakery-cafe will be smaller than the current 4,800-square-foot space by almost 1,000 square feet, but the Grandview Avenue space is one of the oldest restaurants in the market for Panera and the move was expected.
Construction is expected to begin in the coming months, according to information from Nationwide Realty. Fiorino said the move will occur later in the year.
Covelli is Panera’s (NASDAQ: PNRA) largest franchisee and operates 26 bakery-cafes in Central Ohio and more than 250 in five states and Canada.
For Nationwide Realty, Panera joins a list of new tenants, including Hofbrauhaus on the restaurant side and Ernst & Young and an OhioHealth urgent care on the office side.
The nearly 100-acre development’s plans include up to 2 million square feet of retail, restaurants and office space and more than 600 residential units.
