Panera Bread will occupy a pad site just off Route 3 in the Clifton section of Prism Capital Partners’ ON3 campus. — Rendering courtesy: Prism
By Joshua Burd
Panera Bread has joined the fast-growing retail lineup at ON3, with plans to open a drive-thru location in Clifton under a newly announced deal with Prism Capital Partners.
According to a news release, the bakery café chain will occupy a pad site just off Route 3 that will be easily accessible via new ingress and egress lanes at the mixed-use campus. Prism Construction Services will oversee turnkey development, with construction slated to begin in early April, in a district that includes a new Starbucks as well as Chipotle and Chase Bank locations that are also in progress.
RIPCO Real Estate represented Prism in the transaction, while Newmark served as tenant broker.
“The Panera Bread lease advances our goal to curate a well-balanced mix that serves the surrounding community and complements our campus’ live-work-play lifestyle,” said Edwin Cohen, a principal partner with Prism. “ON3’s retail component is well underway, and we look forward to finalizing more additions in the near term.”
The firm, which has spent the past decade redeveloping and repurposing the former Hoffmann-La Roche campus in Clifton and Nutley, noted that Panera’s menu includes a range of soups, salads and sandwiches along with pastries and sweets. The first Panera Bread opened in 1987, the news release said, while the company today has more than 2,200 bakery-cafes in 48 states, Washington, D.C., and Ontario, Canada.
The fast-casual chain will be the fourth retail user at the 116-acre mixed-use campus, now home to a host of blue-chip office tenants alongside major health care, life sciences and academic users. Last summer, Hackensack Meridian Health & Wellness Center at Clifton opened its doors at ON3, joining 1.47 million square feet of fully occupied office space, research and lab facilities and convenience retail, the news release said.
Prism, which is based at the campus, is planning more than 2 million square feet of additional space as part of a plan to create a full-fledged, mixed-use district that includes housing. Other existing occupants include Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine and the Hackensack Meridian Health Center for Discovery and Innovation, Eisai Inc., Quest Diagnostics, The Ralph Lauren Corp., Seton Hall University’s Graduate College of Nursing and School of Health and Medical Sciences, Modern Meadow, Y-mAbs Therapeutics and Proponent Federal Credit Union.
Prism adds Chase, Chipotle to growing retail mix at ON3 campus
