Damascus Bakery Relocates from Brooklyn to Newark

NEWARK-Damascus Bakery has acquired the industrial building at 60 McClellan Street in the South Ward here for $3.5 million, says Brick City Development Corp.

The bakery creates and distributes pitas, roll-ups, wraps, and Panini flat breads to the retail and food service industry, including Costco and Garden of Eden, a gourmet NY-based grocer. Damascus, which is relocating from Brooklyn, NY, will bring more than 180 jobs to the city, and has committed to hiring Newark residents. The company will invest close to $1.2 million in site improvements and upgrades prior to an early 2012 opening.
“We feed the region,” Lyneir Richardson, CEO of BCDC, tells GlobeSt.com.

BCDC worked with Damascus Bakery for almost three years to identify an ideal site with the proper transportation access. In addition to site location assistance, BCDC provided financial assistance, including facilitating an employment grant for job creation for Newark residents (up to $250,000) and funding for site improvements ($300,000).

“They had very particular needs,” Richardson says. “We were just patient.”

According to Richardson, the Damascus project will also have an immediate impact on the neighborhood.  The City approved the demolition of a blighted building directly across the street as part of the approval process.   

The deal is the latest in a series of food-related businesses to lease or acquire distribution facilities in the city. Other recent deals including new headquarters buildings for The Manischewitz Company and Pacific Group Holdings (Bonita Bananas). In addition, Wakefern Food Corp. broke ground on a new 180,000-square-foot distribution center in August 2011. Bartlett Dairy is now operating out of its new 105,000-square-foot facility and will soon celebrate with a ribbon cutting in the South Ward.  

“This has been a great year for us,” Richardson says. “We’re hoping for one or two more.”