CINCINNATI — Urbana Cafe is moving out of the Atlas Building and to a new home around the corner — but just temporarily.
"This is not a goodbye," the coffee shop announced on social media Monday morning.
The shop will move temporarily to the Contemporary Arts Center's lobby, while the Atlas Building undergoes redevelopment, both CAC and Urbana announced.
The coffee shop will relocate to CAC's lobby beginning in April and until renovations are finished at the Atlas Building in the summer of 2027. The coffee shop has been open inside of the Atlas Building since 2021, when it opened during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Those early days were quiet — but we believed in downtown and what this space could become," said Daniel Noguera, founder and president of Urbana Cafe, in a press release. "Over time, the cafe grew into a place filled with connection and everyday rituals that make a neighborhood feel like home."
Still, the cafe held on but now the business has to move temporarily to make way for changes.
The business said Urban Sites is working to build apartments to meet the growing need for housing downtown and that construction means the coffee shop must move to better serve its customers.
"We're incredibly thankful to CAC's team for opening their doors and inviting Urbana into a space that reflects the same values we care about: Accessibility, curiosity and bringing people together," reads Urbana's social post.
Aside from which lobby houses Urbana, not much else will change with the business; it will still operate for seven days a week inside CAC, same as it has in the Atlas Building.
According to CAC, the museum and cafe already has plans to look at the potential for outdoor seating and other accommodations for Urbana customers.
"CAC has always seen itself as a living room for the city — a place where art, ideas and people come together," said Carolyn Hefner, chief of external affairs at CAC, in a press release. "Partnering with Urbana strengthens that vision by adding a daily ritual to the museum experience, inviting people to linger, connect and return."
