Panera Bread will launch its newest drive-thru restaurant in New Jersey.
The fast-casual chain signed a lease for a pad site at the ON3 campus in Clifton. It expects to begin construction on a 3,500-square-foot eatery in early April, according to a March 19 announcement.
Founded by Ken Rosenthal in 1987 as the St. Louis Bread Co., Panera Bread is known for fresh breads, soups, salads, sandwiches and pastries.
After Essex County native Ron Shaich acquired the company in 1993, he expanded it into a nationally recognized bakery café chain with more than 2,200 outposts across North America. Shaich stepped down as CEO in 2018.
Within New Jersey, Panera Bread has 85 sites.
Panera Bread unveiled its first drive-thru in 2008. About half of locations now have the feature, the company has said. Locally, it has drive-thru services at stores in Brick, Clark, East Windsor, Manahawkin, Paramus, Teterboro and Wayne.
Joining the ON3 lineup
At ON3, Panera Bread is the latest national retailer to join the lineup at the Prism Capital Partners-owned mixed-used campus. After welcoming Starbucks in late 2024, the firm is preparing to unveil newly constructed locations from Chipotle Mexican Grill and Chase Bank, too.
The property is the formerly the North American headquarters for Hoffmann-La Roche. Now, the redeveloped 116-acre complex is a multi-tenant lifestyle hub integrating office, R&D, educational, residential, recreational, retail, hospitality and wellness facilities. The property spans Clifton and Nutley.
Other tenants include Hackensack Meridian Health & Wellness Center, Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, Hackensack Meridian Health Center for Discovery and Innovation, Eisai Inc., Quest Diagnostics, The Ralph Lauren Corp., Proponent Federal Credit Union, Modern Meadow and Seton Hall University Graduate College of Nursing and School of Health & Medical Sciences.
‘Well-balanced mix’
Prism Principal Partner Edwin Cohen said, “The Panera Bread lease advances our goal to curate a well-balanced mix that serves the surrounding community and complements our campus’ live-work-play lifestyle. ON3’s retail component is well underway, and we look forward to finalizing more additions in the near-term.”
According to Prism, Panera Bread will be located just off Route 3. It will be accessible via soon-to-be-completed ingress and egress lanes, the firm said.
Elmwood Park-based RIPCO Real Estate represented Prism in the transaction. Newmark served as tenant broker.
Prism Construction Services will oversee turnkey development for the stand-alone restaurant, according to the firm.
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