Bar/lounge, bakery/bistro are latest projects on bustling downtown Lancaster block

A French bakery/bistro and a third floor bar/lounge with a rooftop terrace are the latest additions to the bustling first block of East King Street.

The new eateries are scheduled to open in June at 26 E. King St., between  Irish pubs Annie Bailey’s and Tellus 360.

Also planned for the block are a Fulton Bank expansion, which is currently on hold, and a 96-room addition to the Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square.

“There’s certainly an awful lot happening on that block,” said  Lancaster city Mayor Rick Gray.

All of the East King Street projects involve new construction that would transform the block just east of Penn Square.

The only construction actually happening now is at 26 East King St., a project with an address that is also its name.

The partners in 26 East  are Cedric and Estelle Barberet along with Ben Frank of building owner Amalfi Properties.

Each floor of the new building will have around 3,500 square feet of space, with the second floor to be used for events.

On the first floor will be Bistro Barberet and Bakery, which will be managed by the Barberets and be comprised of a bakery in the front and a 40-seat bistro in the back.

Cedric Barberet was most recently the executive pastry chef at Buddakan restaurant in Philadelphia. He has also worked as executive pastry chef at Mar-a-Lago Club, Donald Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, Florida.

On the third floor of 26 East will be the 50-seat Altana bar/lounge which  will have a limited food menu and include a 60-seat rooftop terrace.

Frank estimated that there will be 60 employees at 26 East. He declined to estimate the project’s cost.

Joshua Funk, co-owner of Annie Bailey’s, applauded the arrival of the new restaurants, which he said will offer a more fine dining approach than his pub.

“It’s great to have more dining options downtown and it just gets people more enthused about dining out,” Funk said.

Building anew

To make way for the new building at 26 E. King St., the old one that once housed a furniture store, bank and drug store, was torn down.

That building had been empty since Rite Aid moved out in 1996.

In the early 1900s, the building housed the Union Trust Company bank and offices of the Lancaster Board of Trade.

An original plan to preserve the facade of the old building proved too expensive because the building had been damaged.

“It’s unfortunate that they couldn’t save that building, but it was really almost demolition by neglect,” Gray said.

The new building is across King Street from the now-grassy lot where Fulton Bank still plans to build an expansion.

Fulton tore down a former Sovereign Bank at 23 E. King St. and had begun digging the foundation before it put the project on hold, filled in the hole that had been made, and planted grass.

Nearby, construction could begin  as soon as late this year on a 96-room addition to the Lancaster Marriott that would rise 12 stories.

Buildings at 14, 16, and 18 E. King St. would be torn down for the hotel annex, which would include a rooftop lounge and bar.

If all the projects are completed the block would have three rooftop areas: the existing one at Tellus 360 and new ones at 26 East and the Marriott.

Penn Square Ltd., an affiliate of LNP Media Group, publisher of LNP and operator of website Lancaster Online, is a limited partner in Penn Square Partners, a private company that owns the Marriott franchise.

Source: LancasterOnline