Subculture Coffee returns to Delray
Ousted in March after lease fight, popular java provider will reopen in May in historic house.
Subculture Coffee Roasters soon will be serving java once again to loyal downtown Delray Beach customers.
The popular coffee shop has leased space at 20 W. Atlantic Avenue, the southwest corner of Swinton and Atlantic avenues. The location formerly was home to Nature’s Way Café.
The move comes after the West Palm Beach-based coffee company closed its downtown Delray Beach space at 123 E. Atlantic Ave.
In March, Subculture lost an eviction lawsuit filed against it by its landlord.
Subculture’s move to the south side of Atlantic Avenue is part of a long-term deal between the coffee company and Hudson Holdings, owner of the property.
The coffee shop will be in a temporary funky, green building along Atlantic Avenue until Hudson Holdings wins the city’s OK to do a restoration of six historic houses on Swinton Avenue. The project is called Swinton Commons.
If all goes to plan, Subculture then will move into one of those houses and take the entire space, as Subculture co-owner Rodney Mayo now has with his iconic Dada restaurant on North Swinton Avenue.
Mayo said Hudson Holdings’ Steven Michael called Mayo and pitched him the idea when he heard Subculture needed new space.
“It’s been my dream to have a coffee shop in an old historic house. This clinched the deal,” Mayo said.
The coffee company posted news of its temporary new Delray Beach location on its Facebook page Tuesday: “Construc- tion is underway!” Indeed, workers Wednesday were sanding concrete floors and quickly readying the space for Subculture, which expects to open by the end of May.
Mayo said the new location will be akin to the main West Palm Beach store at 509 Clematis St.
Subculture’s new spot will serve a range of food, including breakfast and lunch until 3 p.m. There also will be a separate annex for juices.
But coffee will not be roasted at 20 W. Atlantic Ave., as it was in the old Delray spot and as it is now in West Palm Beach.
On the plus side, the new location will have substantially more seating.
That’s because at 2,200 square feet, it will be three times as large as the old location.
“Everyone is ecstatic because it will have more parking and more seats,” said Mayo, who noted that some patrons found it frustrating to have to “pay $10 to park for a $5 cup of coffee.”
Mayo also plans to host events there, including poetry readings and live music.
The l o c a t i o n i s t e mporar y because Hudson Holdings plans to tear down 20 W. Atlantic Ave. and build a 22,000-square-foot, four-story building.
\The building will feature retail on the ground floor, office space on the second floor and residential space on the third and fourth floors.
A breezeway to an interior court yard and walkway leading to the six restored historic homes, including Subculture’s house, is part of the Swinton Commons design.
Mayo said the house will have five parking spots just for to-go orders, plenty of nearby parking and outdoor seating.
All of this hinges on Hudson Holdings’ plan to restore and reuse the historic homes, plus plans to build a new hotel and condo-hotel units across from the Sundy House restaurant and inn on South Swinton Avenue.