The Corso Manly: Side Room healthy food cafe set to join the $12 million St Matthews Church retail redevelopment
From the blokes who brought us the Fishbowl eatery chain comes a healthy food cafe that will take the last lease in an iconic $15m church and retail development on The Corso at Manly.
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A trendy eatery, with its roots at Bondi and which boasts that “it’s a health food store” is set to move into one of the northern beaches prime retail sites.
The Side Room outlet, which will dish up a range of salads and smoothies, is the last tenant to grab a lease in the troubled $15.6 million church and retail development on The Corso at Manly.
Side Room is an offshoot brand of the successful Fishbowl cafe chain.
It will join the discount pharmacy, Chemist Warehouse, which took four of the seven leases in the redeveloped Darley Smith building owned by St Matthews Church.
Anita Gelato, which is yet to move in, has two of the leased spaces.
The Darley Smith development is currently behind schedule after the project’s builders, Clifford Constructions, went into administration in April last year.
Chemist Warehouse has been operating in the building since last year. Anita’s has had a development for a shop fit out accepted by Northern Beaches Council and is just waiting on a construction certificate to be granted.
As part of the redevelopment of the strip of shops between Humphreys newsagency and the church, a new 180-seat auditorium and a function centre within the church grounds have opened.
The church said in 2019 that the redevelopment would be mix of quality retail and one food outlet.
St Matthews Church warden, Tim Evans, who has been managing the leasing process, said he was pleased that Side Room had taken a lease.
Mr Evans said they had been approached last year by a major bank that wanted three of the leases, but the offer was declined.
“We want the site to be alive,” he said.
“We’ll have Side Room. Anita’s and Chemist Warehouse that will drag people on to The Corso.
“We’re sure Side Room will do well here.”
Side Room, which has an outlet opposite Bondi Beach, has put up poster on the windows of the shopfront o The Corso alerting locals that”it’s a health food store coming soon to Manly”.
The posters also boast that it will he offering “salads, smoothies and coffee”
Its Bondi outlet is open from 7am to 5pm.
Customers can “build” their own salads with bowls costing up to $20.90, if it contains salmon.
Avocado toasties are on the menu alongside smoothies for $13 with names like Hulk, a drink packed with green stuff such as spinach, pea protein banana and spirulina
EARLIER
Revealed: Gelato giant headed for iconic retail redevelopment
On February 15, 2021
Here's the scoop...an upmarket ice cream retail chain is coming to the northern beaches and wants to hire locals.
The Israel-headquartered 'Anita - La Momma del Gelato' is the latest tenant to lease space in the troubled $12m church and retail development on The Corso at Manly.
While the outlet won't be open for at least a "few months", it did confirm there would be looking locally for some staff.The ice creamery, known for its wide array of colourful offerings based on a "momma's recipes" also revealed why it was coming to Manly.
"At Anita Gelato, we love the beach," a spokeswoman told the Manly Daily."Manly is an iconic location so when we were offered a shop in the middle of the famed Corso in the Darley Smith Building, next to St Matthews Church, we could not resist.
"We cannot wait to introduce our boutique gelato . . . and become an integral part of the Manly community. "While the shop opening is still a few months off, we would love to hire local staff who share our passion for gelato and immaculate service." the spokeswoman said.
Anita, which already has shops at Bondi Beach, Bondi Junction and on Broadway at Chippendale, has lodged a development application for a shop fit-out with Northern Beaches Council.
Back in October 2018, the church told the Manly Daily it was looking to attract “iconic” brands to move in.
St Matthews Church warden, Tim Evans, said at time that the current shopping strip looked like a “dog’s breakfast” and a new refit would attract a higher class of tenant.
“We are trying to bring the standard up,” Mr Evans said in 2018.
“We will be looking for iconic brands to move in, not $2 shops or surf shops, there’s enough of those already.
“We mean to, in this environment, have quality tenants and we’re being selective about who we can invite into the building.”
On Friday Mr Evans confirmed that Anita had leased two of the seven shop spaces in the Darley Smith Building and had lodged a DA.
He said he was hopeful that the outlet would open in a "couple of months".
Mr Evans said he was in discussions with another potential tenant for the last of the retail leases. He would not reveal if it was a retail or hospitality outlet.
"We are talking to someone now.
"We are in the very early stages of discussions, but if they take it, they will be an exciting addition as well.
When the Chemist Warehouse was announced Manly Chamber of Commerce said it was delighted to hear the brand had made a strong long term investment by relocating and taking on new space across the other side of The Corso.
President Charlotte Rimmer said in September that health and wellness was a strong trading category in the current COVID-19 crisis.
“Long term consistent rent is integral to ensuring that the financial economy in Manly stays strong,” Ms Rimmer said. “We are looking forward to seeing what the property owners of Chemist Warehouse’s current site, will do with their future redevelopment.”
“Regardless of whether it's a chemist warehouse, a news agency, a bank or dress shop, everyone’s got to comply with the council requirement sand that’s what we will be doing.
In June Mr Evans told the Manly Daily that four of the seven retail units have been taken and there was interest in the other three.
”We’ve tried to improve the look of The Corso by putting in a very high quality building. I think that it’ appreciated.”
The Darley Smith development is currently behind schedule after the project’s builders, Clifford Constructions, went into administration in April last year.
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