Arwa Yemeni Coffee Opening First NYC Location in Williamsburg

A Yemeni-style coffeehouse chain is establishing its first New York City presence in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Arwa Coffee, which has locations in Texas and Illinois so far, signed a 10-year, 2,000-square-foot lease at Joel Schwarzt’s 310 North Seventh Street as part of a larger national expansion, according to tenant broker Meridian Retail Leasing.

Asking rent for the space in the new development was $12,500 per month, Meridian said.

“This was a situation where the deal didn’t work on paper at first,” Meridian’s Joaquin Carrillo, who represented the tenant in the transaction, said in the statement. “The space was larger than what the tenant could take, but by rethinking the layout, we were able to split the unit and create two viable tenancies. In today’s market, you need to be flexible and find creative ways to get deals done while properly serving your client.”

Josh Sloan of Sloan Real Estate, who negotiated on behalf of the landlord in the transaction, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Arwa was founded in 2021 in Richardson, Texas, by Nora Soofi, Yazan Soofi and Susan Shihab. The company now has seven locations where it serves coffee and teas specific to Yemen in a setting designed to reflect that country’s culture.

Nestled between North Sixth and North Seventh streets, the majority of the eight-story 310 North Seventh’s frontage runs along Meeker Avenue.

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.