Developers appear to have learned their lesson. The lesson being that it’s very, very difficult to lease out large, quarter-block-sized high-rent ground floor retail spaces to anyone interested in turning a profit. Spaces these days tend to be smaller, while spacious spaces that went unleased for years appear to be a thing of the past.

And now, one local company is leaning into the idea of “Why try to find tenants when we can be our own tenant?”

That’s what Christina Barry told us about her employer, Bridge Development, a building management company that aims to put its own line of coffee shops on the ground floor of some of the buildings it manages.

As of today, that company’s brand, Queue Coffee, has opened its first shop on the ground floor of the Q21 building on the corner of NW Quimby and 21st in Slabtown.

And like the cafes of your college days, the 40-seat Queue will keep long hours, staying open as late as 11 pm, seven days a week.

For its inaugural flagship shop, Barry says Queue is partnering with three different roasters—Extracto, Dapper & Wise, and Tanager—to dial in its line of espresso drinks, with the latter assisting in developing its own in-house espresso blend.

And Queue is partnering with a pair of bakeries, too—Loretta Jean’s and Petunia’s—to help with coffee pairings, so expect snacks like sweet and savory toasts, granola, brownie sundaes made with Coop ice cream, and brown butter bourbon blondies.

Barry says she’s not certain where Bridge will next open its next Queue, adding that the developers are likely waiting to see how the Slabtown version performs. But with thousands of new tenants in an area that was once nothing but mostly empty parking lots, the odds seem pretty good.

Queue Coffee: 2112 NW Quimby, Ste. 103, 971-277-7181; Hours: 6:30 am to 11 pm, Monday through Friday, and 7 am to 11pm, Saturday and Sunday