After over a year without its coffee shop, One Line Coffee will return to the Huntington Center Downtown, 41 S. High St.
One Line Director of Operations David Forman says the coffee shop was in the middle of renegotiating its lease when COVID hit. With traffic driven largely by the 3,000 to 3,500 plus office workers in the building, it quickly became apparent the store would not be sustainable and the location officially closed down early in the pandemic.
It was more of a casual departure than a definitive breakup.
“They allowed us to leave all of our stuff in that space,” Forman says. “The hope was that we would eventually be able to reopen.”
And reopening they are.
Tyler Steele of Hines, the building’s operator, approached One Line about kicking things up again. One Line now hopes to reopen at the Huntington Center by the end of the month.
“We’re taking a little bit of a leap of faith,” Forman says.
Workers are slowly starting to return Downtown. Working with Hines to forecast the building’s occupancy, Forman expects that first push of office workers to return soon with the removal of statewide COVID restrictions and kids at home for the summer creating work-from-home distractions. Both anticipate that fall should bring even more workers back with kids back to school and childcare options more readily available.
One Line 2.0 will see some minor renovations and the installation of a new espresso machine. The shop will be serving up the same great selection of espresso drinks and signature drip coffee roasts. The big changes will come in the coffee accompaniments.
Just before the pandemic, One Line opened its long-anticipated location at River & Rich in Franklinton, featuring a kitchen for in-house baking. The Huntington Center location will see a wider selection of pastries and baked goods courtesy of the Franklinton shop. Forman says they’re working on some new pastries and heartier items, like stuffed biscuits, as well.
One Line has signed a short-term lease, keeping the building caffeinated through the end of the year, and assuming all goes well, Forman says they fully intend on signing on for a longer-term stay.
While waiting for the Huntington Center location to reopen, dine-in has resumed at One Line in the Short North, 745 N. High St., and Franklinton, 471 W. Rich St.
For more information, visit onelinecoffee.com.
All photos by Susan Post
