Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) has announced that its next Roastery location will be in New York City in the heart of the Meatpacking District at 61 Ninth Avenue, which is currently under development.
Scheduled to open in 2018, this New York location will get inspiration from the first Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room that debuted in December 2014 in the company’s hometown of Seattle, Washington. An homage to coffee, this first-of-its-kind experience has immersed customers in the craft of roasting and brewing the finest small lot coffees from around the world.
A local sensation since opening its doors, the Roastery is coffee as theater, encouraging customers to interact with Starbucks roasters and baristas in order to deepen their understanding of the art behind sourcing, roasting and brewing rare coffees. With Starbucks unique, small batch process taking center stage, the Seattle Roastery has transformed specialty coffee and reframed what is possible to do within the four walls of a retail environment.
“Our Seattle Roastery experience created something that had never been done before, transforming a retail environment into something far beyond just a coffeeshop and into the single best retail experience of any kind,” said Howard Schultz, chairman and chief executive officer of Starbucks. “In New York, we want to take elements from what we originally created and build something even bigger and bolder, celebrating coffee and craft in a completely unique and differentiated way. We want this experience to tell our customers that we’re coming to Broadway.”
The massive, 20,000-square-foot New York Roastery experience will build upon everything Starbucks has learned from integrating coffee roasting, manufacturing, education and retail, while ensuring an experience that is locally relevant to the market.
This project will be led by Arthur Rubinfeld, chief creative officer and president, Starbucks Global Innovation, and Liz Muller, vice president of Starbucks Creative and Global Design. Both executives will work closely with the joint venture of Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO) and Aurora Capital that is developing 61 Ninth. The development site, formerly Prince Lumber, was acquired by the joint venture in 2015.
The new building, designed by Rafael Viñoly, will be located one block south of Chelsea Market. Upon completion – which is expected by the end of 2017 – 61 Ninth Avenue will be approximately 170,000 square feet and rise nine stories.
