The former Whole Foods building in East Liberty, vacant since 2022, has a new tenant: The Fresh Market.
The grocer will open its second Pittsburgh store at the 32,000-square-foot site on Centre Avenue in early 2025, said Herky Pollock, the CBRE executive vice president who helped broker the deal.
He declined to offer details about the lease cost.
“When Whole Foods vacated that store, it was the number one Whole Foods in Pittsburgh and highly successful,” Pollock said. “It left a void in that grocery store.”
Whole Foods left the space in 2022 to relocate to a nearby Penn Avenue site in East Liberty with a larger footprint. The new space added 20,000 square feet of floor space and more parking.
There was “a ton of interest” in the space after Whole Foods left, Pollock said. Interested tenants ranged from entertainment businesses, grocery stores and other retailers.
Ultimately, Pollock said, The Fresh Market seemed to be best fit.
“The Fresh Market is a phenomenal grocery chain,” he said. “We felt their merchandise greatly complimented East Side and would be an ideal replacement tenant for Whole Foods.”
The Fresh Market’s only existing Pittsburgh-area location is on Washington Rd. in Mt. Lebanon
The North Carolina-based chain operates 161 stores across 22 states, according to its website. The store touts itself as “a destination for those looking to discover the best including convenient, restaurant-quality meals, hand-picked produce, premium baked goods, fresh-cut flowers, custom-cut meats and carefully curated offerings for holidays and special occasions.”
A spokesperson for the grocery chain did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
