The company that helped lead the redevelopment of One Union Station plans to create a 16,000-square-foot food court in the ground floor area formerly occupied by the Capital Grille and Bar Louie.
Under a tentative agreement announced by the Rhode Island Foundation, Marsella Development Corporation will own and operate the first floor of One Union Station, while the foundation will continue to own and occupy two upper floors.
Chris Marsella, the president of Marsella Development, said the food court is expected to include more than a dozen separate restaurant concepts and bars.
“As we emerge from the most challenging of times, we know that people will once again come together, as they always have, around food,” Marsella said in a statement “We are building a space that will bring people together, foster talented members of the culinary community and showcase the very best of Rhode Island.”
One Union Station was formerly a train station. Marsella Development had a leading role in redeveloping it as an office complex after a fire in 1987. The Public’s Radio is among the tenants of the Rhode Island Foundation in the building.
“We’re excited about the Marsella family’s vision for Union Station, and see this as another step in our decades-long commitment to supporting downtown Providence,” said Neil D. Steinberg, president and CEO of the foundation.
The Capital Grille left the One Union Station site a few years ago for a different location on nearby Memorial Boulevard. Bar Louie closed during the pandemic.
Ian Donnis can be reached at idonnis@ripr.org. Follow him on Twitter @IanDon. Sign up here for his weekly RI politics and media newsletter.
