The first new business to open on District Drive is a café that connects to an apartment lobby. No brewery, steakhouse or bowling lanes yet. The Park has billed District Drive as the walkable main street of a $500 million redevelopment of the old Connell Corporate Park. This month it begins with Cafe Exchange and a new Dogtopia. The places for everyday errands are opening first, and the places for an evening out are coming later.
Coffee first, at 500 District Drive
Cafe Exchange is at 500 District Drive, Suite F, and its page on The Park's site already shows soft opening hours. The Park's March 10 announcement on PR Newswire described it as a two-story social café with premium coffee, food and an evening wine bar, "with a special emphasis on community, books, and the arts." The Connell Company's October 29 announcement on PR Newswire says the café connects to the lobby of RT500, the first residential tower at The Park, and calls it "the newest opening on District Drive."
The formal celebration is the Cafe Exchange Grand Opening on Sunday, November 15, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The schedule includes:
- Menu samples and free coffee
- Live music on the café's stage
- A make-your-own bookmark station
- A library scavenger hunt
- Giveaways
The bookmark station and scavenger hunt fit the café's pitch. It's set up as a place to sit for a while with a book, more than a quick drive-through stop.
November at The Park is built around routines
The rest of The Park's November calendar follows the same idea. After the café's opening day, the dated events center on a run, a book club, a cooking demo and a workout. None of them is a late night out.
Dogtopia is the other District Drive opening set for November. This new Dogtopia location at The Park lists its address as 500 District Drive, and its banner reads "Opening Soon - November 2026." It offers dog daycare, overnight and holiday boarding, and spa services. It is a separate location from the Dogtopia that already operates at 410D Springfield Avenue. That matters if your dog already has a spot at the Springfield Avenue one.
The ParkLife events calendar fills in the rest of the month:
| Date | Event | Time | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun., Nov. 15 | Cafe Exchange Grand Opening | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. | 500 District Drive |
| Tue., Nov. 17 | ParkLife Turkey Trot | 5 to 5:30 p.m. | Free 2-mile run, starting at 400 Connell Drive |
| Tue., Nov. 17 | Chefsgiving | 5:30 to 7 p.m. | Tasting and demo, tickets sold separately |
| Thu., Nov. 19 | November Book Club | 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. | Now held at Cafe Exchange |
| Fri., Nov. 27 | Gratitude Grind | 9 a.m. or 11 a.m. | Workout at FIELDHOUSE |
The ParkLife Turkey Trot costs nothing, but you need to sign up for a ticket. Organizers will supply festive tutus and holiday running gear. It runs the Tuesday of the week before Thanksgiving, and Gratitude Grind falls on the day after. Moving the book club to Cafe Exchange puts the new café on the community calendar just four days after its grand opening.
Daily-use places were already here
The new openings join a campus whose established tenants have always been weekday places. The Park's directory lists four that are open now:
- Life Time, a 112,000-square-foot athletic country club off I-78 on Connell Drive, with group fitness classes and a large fitness floor.
- FIELDHOUSE, which offers fitness, coworking, wellness and gaming at two locations on the campus.
- Starbucks at the Embassy Suites, which you can enter from the parking lot or the hotel lobby.
- Grain & Cane, an American restaurant and bar described as upscale but approachable, with seasonal, locally sourced food.
Until the District Drive dining arrives, Grain & Cane is the one sit-down dinner choice in this group. The first two new openings add more coffee and care for pets, and the November events add more workouts. The evening side of The Park is still mostly a plan.
The night-out tenants keep moving later
The restaurants and entertainment that got the most attention are the ones with the latest dates, and several of those dates have already moved. Here is how each business currently states its own target. Treat these as targets, not promises.
| Business | What it is | Current stated opening |
|---|---|---|
| BASH | Wood-fired steakhouse with 14 duckpin bowling lanes, pool, darts and shuffleboard | "Late Fall 2026" on its steakhouse page, "Early Winter 2027" on its main page |
| MODO Hi-Fi Listening Bar | Vinyl listening bar inside BASH | "Late Fall 2026" |
| Emberside Brewery | Brewery, bar and beer garden at 800 District Drive | "Winter 2026" |
| Rosa Azul MexiDiner | Mexican restaurant and bar at 800 District Drive | "Winter 2026" |
| Rosa Azul Taquería Local | Taco window serving the outdoor garden and playground | "Winter 2026" |
| Boschetto | Fast-casual regional Italian at 700 District Drive, Suite B | "Coming Soon" |
| Four Spoons Ice Cream Co. | More than 30 ice cream flavors plus froyo | "Coming Soon" |
| Doner Shack | Berlin-style doner and shawarma | "Coming Soon" |
| Grover's | 1950s-style roadside burger café | Phases in 2028 |
| Pickle on Top | Pickleball courts and sports bar | Phases in 2028 |
| Greatness Wins, Prime IV Hydration & Wellness | Athletic apparel flagship, IV wellness | "Future Phase" |
Emberside shows how dates move. In July, NJBIZ reported that the brewery was "scheduled to open this fall." The Park's page now says winter. Boschetto follows the same path. In April, BINJE reported that the Montclair restaurant's second location was "scheduled to open this fall." Its listing now says only "Coming Soon."
The Park's own pages don't always agree with each other either. The District Drive page still says the street would "open in phases beginning in August 2026." The Dine page uses the same August heading above businesses whose own pages now point to winter or later. Delays like this are common with a project this large. They also mean that the newest page from the business itself is a better guide than any banner across the top of the site.
All three Table & Banter Hospitality concepts, Emberside, Rosa Azul and BASH, are in the 60,000-square-foot entertainment and dining group. Because one operator runs them all, they may open close together whenever they do. The Rosa Azul taquería's walk-up window, which faces an outdoor garden and playground, is the piece most likely to change how the area feels in warm weather. On the current schedule, that likely means spring at the earliest.
The building keeps going around the café
The work behind the new storefronts isn't slowing down. RT500 began move-ins on August 1, according to ROI-NJ. On October 28, The Connell Company marked the structural completion of RT600, an eight-story tower slated to open in fall 2027. The District Drive plan calls for about 160,000 square feet of dining, entertainment, wellness and lifestyle space. For people who live nearby, that likely means construction traffic along Connell Drive will last well beyond this season, alongside the new café and kennel.
For this month, the open doors are Cafe Exchange at 500 District Drive, the new Dogtopia once it opens, and the four established tenants on the campus. The Turkey Trot on November 17 is free with a ticket, and the Book Club meets at the café two days later.
If you like following changes like this on District Drive, I'd be glad to talk about them, along with whatever else is on your mind around Berkeley Heights. Reach out to Michele DiBenedetto any time.
