A cold-pressed juice bar is set to take over one of Hotel Cleveland's street-level retail bays, filling the space once occupied by Joe Maxx Coffee with smoothies, açai bowls and superfood shots. Pure Green, the New York City-born juice chain, will open its third Ohio location inside the historic hotel on Public Square, joining a wave of fast-casual tenants reshaping the block.
The deal was first reported by Cleveland Scene, whose Mark Oprea wrote that Pure Green has not yet announced an opening date. Hotel Cleveland's four street-level retail spots also include a Boost Mobile store, and the Pure Green lease was helped along by Austin Love, a broker with Cushman & Wakefield | Cresco, who told the outlet that the juice bar fit “Public Square, Hotel Cleveland and downtown overall.” The menu will include 13 juices, six shots, smoothies, toasts, açai bowls and steel-cut oatmeal, according to the same report.
Pure Green already runs two locations in and around Columbus, making the Public Square spot the company's third foothold in Ohio. Founded in 2014 by CEO Ross Franklin, the chain has grown to more than 200 locations open or in development across over 25 states and serves as an official cold-pressed juice supplier to SpaceX, the U.S. Military and over 100 professional sports teams, per the International Franchise Professionals Group. Franklin launched the concept after managing fitness centers and consulting in the wellness industry.
A Compact Footprint Built for Old Storefronts
Part of what makes Pure Green an easy fit for a small former coffee shop is its supply chain. The company cold-presses and bottles its juices and shots at a central facility, then ships them directly to franchise locations, removing the need for on-site juicing equipment or kitchen exhaust venting, the franchise group notes. Initial buildouts for the brand's compact, 500-to-1,000-square-foot footprints average around $250,000. Pure Green used the same pre-bottled, no-kitchen model when it signed a lease for its first San Antonio location at The Merc development near UTSA, a move Hoodline covered in July as part of the chain's push into walkable, multi-tenant urban corridors.
According to 2026 franchise disclosure data cited by the IFPG, Pure Green locations in the top grossing quartile averaged $869,329 in annual gross sales. The company began offering franchises in 2020 after six years of running company-owned stores.
Hotel Cleveland's Bigger Food and Beverage Push
The juice bar's arrival comes as Hotel Cleveland works to overhaul its food and beverage strategy. Building owner Skyline Investments tapped Dallas-based Coury Hospitality this spring to take over management of the 491-room hotel, including its food and beverage programming and 65,000 square feet of event space — a move Hoodline reported in its piece on the hotel's new management shakeup. Coury specializes in Marriott Autograph Collection properties and operates 13 such locations nationwide.
The hotel already houses two internal dining venues from its recent makeover: Maker, a second-floor restaurant and cocktail lounge overlooking Public Square, and Mowrey's, an American breakfast concept that pays homage to Phineas Mowrey, who established a tavern on the site in 1815. Hotel Cleveland underwent an $80 million renovation in 2024, and the historic building itself dates back to December 16, 1918, when it opened as a $4.5 million, 1,000-room property that went on to host Eliot Ness, Charles Lindbergh and The Beatles.
Public Square's Foot Traffic Boom
Pure Green's move follows a broader run of activity on and around Public Square, which received a nationally renowned makeover back in 2016. Ohio officials and company executives formally opened Sherwin-Williams' new global headquarters on the square's northwest corner in May, an event Hoodline covered in a story on Governor DeWine's downtown visit, bringing thousands of corporate office workers back to the downtown core.
Fast-casual Mediterranean chain Naf Naf Middle Eastern Grill also opened a storefront on Public Square at 184 Euclid Ave in July, replacing a former Taco Bell location, as Hoodline detailed in its report on the falafel shop's arrival. Downtown Cleveland, Inc. has also launched a weekly Thursday evening farmers market on the square this summer to help address fresh food availability, running alongside a separate Tuesday market established nearby at Mall B.
It remains unclear when Pure Green will announce an official opening date for the Public Square location, and whether Coury Hospitality plans to integrate the juice bar's offerings into room service or other hotel amenities.
