The Piazza Reboot in Northern Liberties Includes a Roof Deck and a 33-Foot Robot From Burning Man

Developer Post Brothers is opening Piazza Pod Park in Northern Liberties, a 35,000-square-foot mixed-use space with food and drink vendors, retail, art installations, and seating for 300. It’s going into what was a parking lot on Germantown Avenue at 2nd Street in the massive Piazza complex, which has struggled to find a foothold since it opened with apartments and retail space 10 years ago.

On the food side, Pod Park includes a mix of familiar Philly restaurants and some newcomers: Dim Sum House’s Lil Sum Sum, Spread Bagelry, French Toast Bites by Lokal Artisan Foods, New Liberty Distilling, Tiki Takos from the owner of El Camino Real, Mama Maria’s Italian Ice, Empanada Box, and an outpost of Urban Village, the brewery and pizzeria in the Piazza. Additional eateries will be added.

Taking its cue from projects like Spruce Street Harbor Park and Cherry Street Pier, the vendors are set up in those giant shipping containers Philly designers are really into. Some will operate like food trucks, with windows for ordering, and other will have little dining rooms. In the center, here’s something different: a 33-foot, 13,000-pound statue of a robot name Bebot, who hails from Burning Man.

Pod Park [official]

Pod Park will also include a bi-level enclosed dining “pod” with a roof deck.

An 800-foot-long art installation made out of 185 color-changing LED-lit cubes (originally from Burning Man too) will connect the Piazza to the El.

The park is slated for an early May debut and will stay open year-round. Hours will be 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 7 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, though opening times for individual vendors vary.

Pod Park [official photo]