The Downtown Allentown Market, PA

CITY CENTER REVEALS FIRST FOUR MERCHANTS FOR FUTURE DOWNTOWN ALLENTOWN MARKET

City Center Investment Corp., the real estate development company revitalizing downtown Allentown, Pennsylvania, today revealed the first four merchants for its Downtown Allentown Market, which will open on the ArtsWalk in the early fall of 2019. 


The lineup includes three local merchants of ethnic cuisine who have other locations and one microcreamery startup. They are:

  • Shinsen, a sushi/poke bowl concept from the owners of Asian Bistros II in Bethlehem. 
  • Zahra, a Middle Eastern/Mediterranean concept from the family who has owned Aladdin restaurant in Allentown since 1981.
  • Batch Microcreamery, a startup offering made-from-scratch premium ice cream that will be handcrafted onsite with fresh, quality ingredients. 
  • Little Miss Korea, an authentic, fresh Korean bowl concept with a one-year-old location in the Allentown Fairgrounds Farmers Market.

“City Center is so excited to bring this project to life, and we’re starting off strong with our first four merchants,” said City Center’s Retail Leasing and Activation Manager Natalia Stezenko. “We’re in negotiations now for the five remaining merchant bays and can’t wait to share those concepts with the public this summer.”

The Downtown Allentown Market will be located on the ArtsWalk in a 12,000-square-foot space. It will feature nine bays for local and regional food merchants offering high-quality, fast-casual food and drink, such as baked goods and coffee, soups and salads, sandwiches, craft beer or wine, to name a few. The Downtown Allentown Market will provide ample indoor seating and flexible space for events, programming and pop-up shops. Regional muralists will bring unique local flavor to the walls, and large-scale windows will connect seamlessly to outdoor seating along the ArtsWalk. 

City Center hired two firms that helped launch The Bourse food hall in Philadelphia to create The Downtown Allentown Market: Groundswell Design Group, a design firm specializing in place-making, public space activation and hospitality projects, and Cana Development, a commercial real estate development and brokerage firm that delivers mixed-use urban redevelopment projects with a focus on retail, hospitality and entertainment.
Customers can sign up for The Downtown Allentown Market newsletter and learn more at www.DowntownAllentownMarket.com and follow the project on Facebook and Instagram at @DowntownAllentownMarket and #DAMThatsTasty.