The Apartments at Wayne Station at Lancaster and Louella Aves. in downtown Wayne are under roof. The complex includes two floors of one- and two-bedroom luxury apartments, 24 units total, with 10,000 sq. ft. of retail at street level and below-grade parking.
The ground floor of Wayne Station is leased and loaded with all three retail spaces officially filled.
The most sizzling newcomer will be downtown Wayne’s first boutique steakhouse, name TBD, which has taken 3,000 square feet at the corner of Lancaster and Louella. .
With 85-seats, an open kitchen and chef’s table, it will have “the soul of the steakhouse,” says co-owner Larry Kagan, but its beating heart will be the wood-fired grill that “elevates it and broadens the lens.”
Translation: the grill will fire up more than porterhouses and tomahawks. Look for grilled dry-aged fish, seafood, poultry and veggies.
Kagan says prices will be “in line with” Wayne competitors – presumably, places like Cornerstone, At the Table and Autograph.
The vibe will be “warm and modern with cool art and a cozy bar,” promises Wayne Station’s retail broker Jason Bock of MSC Retail. “They’re putting a lot of money into the look and feel of the place.”
Indeed, the steakhouse’s designer is Richard Stokes, the architect behind two of three newly minted Michelin star awardees in Center City: Provenance and Friday Saturday Sunday.
There’s no space on the sidewalk for outdoor seating but folding-glass “NanaWalls” will bring the outside in when the weather’s nice.
Running the show – and the kitchen – will be “a decorated chef from a top Philly restaurant” who’s a Wayne native, Bok tells us. His or her name remains under wraps.
A financial investor, Kagan lives in Wynnewood and is a partner in The Campus, a sports facility in Downingtown. His partner in the restaurant venture is a Main Line native who lives in San Francisco.
All systems are go after Radnor township approved the restaurant’s liquor license earlier this week. But don’t be licking your chops just yet. The steakhouse’s debut is several months away, likely in the fall.
Bock says MSC Retail was choosy about its restaurant outreach for Wayne Station.
“Downtown Wayne is special,” Bock says. “We didn’t want a chain like a Starbucks or Qdoba. We wanted something more distinctive, more high-end to reflect that.”
Next to the steakhouse will be the PA’s first outpost of STRONG Pilates. That’s right – another boutique fitness studio. If this keeps up, they’ll soon be as ubiquitous as bank branches and nail salons.
Proprietary Bike-formers and Row-formers at a STRONG studio.
Unlike typical Pilates studios, STRONG offers hybrid, full-body workouts combining low-impact cardio, strength and the Pilates moves. The Wayne STRONG will have 18 RowFormers and BikeFormers – reformer machines equipped with rowing or cycling attachments, along with a rack of dumbells.
STRONG Wayne’s owner is Havertown mom Kelli Wilson, a former fitness trainer whose husband’s construction company has been building STRONG studios around the country.
STRONG is a fast-growing franchisor out of Australia. Wilson has rights to the Philadelphia region and hopes to open a few more STRONGs after Wayne gets going this summer.
The third and final retailer at Wayne Station will be the Main Line’s second outpost of The Little Gym, an enrichment and confidence-building play place for kids ages four months to 12 years.
Brian O’Shea with son Thomas at The Little Gym in Ardmore, the O’Sheas’ first location. There are more than 400 Little Gyms worldwide.
The Little Gym focuses on child development, enrichment and fun through noncompetitive gymnastics, dance, camps and more.
“We chose to expand to Wayne because of its strong sense of community,” says owner Brian O’Shea. “It feels like a natural next step.”
O’Shea and his wife, Caroline, have owned and operated The Little Gym on Cricket Ave. in Ardmore since December 2023. They hope to open in Wayne by September.
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