Stellbergers’ Happier Grocery heads to Upper East Side
Happier Grocery is bringing its downtown sensibility uptown.
The high-end grocer has signed a 20,500-square-foot lease at 210 East 86th Street, taking over a long-vacant former City Cinemas movie theater on the Upper East Side, according to a press release from broker Avison Young.
The store, expected to open in the second half of next year, will be Happier Grocery’s second New York City location. The company opened its first store at 365 Canal Street in Soho in 2023.
Avison Young’s Christian Stanton and Libby Hodes represented landlord CSC Real Estate, along with Max Swerdloff, who joined brokerage Brand Urban after the deal. Newmark’s Brian Segall and Michael Cohen represented Happier Grocery. The asking rent and lease length were not disclosed.
The Promote first reported on the Upper East Side location, citing anonymous sources.
The store bills itself as a premium neighborhood market, mixing fresh food, prepared meals and specialty products with wellness programming and community events. Its Canal Street location includes an event space known as the Apartment, which has hosted dinners, yoga classes and workshops.
Happier Grocery is the latest venture from brothers Dawson and Wells Stellberger, who have built a business around turning overlooked real estate into hospitality and community spaces.
Dawson Stellberger is the founder of Bushwack Capital, a real estate firm that has developed more than 25 multifamily and industrial properties in Brooklyn, according to a 2024 New York City Economic Development Corporation filing. His projects have included the former furniture warehouse at 599 Johnson Avenue in Bushwick, now home to live music venue Elsewhere, and 154 Scott Avenue, a former steel factory repositioned as the membership club SAA, which offers coworking, production, dining and health and wellness space.
His brother Wells Stellberger came from the design and nightlife worlds, including a stint at Marc Jacobs and a role in opening the Brooklyn event space 99 Scott.
Last month, an entity tied to Dawson Stellberger paid $21.5 million for a mixed-use building at 291 President Street and an adjacent development site at 336 Union Street in Carroll Gardens. The buyer, Happier Grocery President LLC, has fueled speculation that the grocery concept could eventually land there as well.
CSC bought 210 East 86th Street last June for $64.1 million from Perlbinder Realty Corp.
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