Last month, the college announced plans to fill the bottom of the new residence hall with SAGE Café, a restaurant and market.

The space has been vacant since the new residence hall opened in Aug. 2016.

“The College has done a great job of listening to the students as well as the greater community in providing a food concept [SAGE] that meets – and will exceed – the needs of all,” Senior Vice President for Advancement and External Affairs Paul Sutera said.

The plans for the space fill the void left by the Mirage Diner, which closed at the end of 2014 to make space for the new residence hall.

The SAGE Café will be a 3,000 square foot contemporary intercontinental-cuisine-influenced restaurant with a 2,000 square foot market and bakery, according to the press release on iona.edu. The college intends for it to be a relaxed atmosphere with a few stations, such as a coffee station and juice bar as well as a grab- ‘n – go area.

Students are looking forward to the opening of the new place.

“I’m so stoked about the new café that’s going into the new building,” junior Josephine Nguyen said. “I’ve always loved the different cuisines and food options that are here at Iona and I’m sure this would be a wonderful addition to the diverse food courses that are already here.”

Junior Christine Borrero is excited and wary about the new eatery.

“I’m excited about it,” Borrero said. “It’s convenient and close-by. It’s also something new because we don’t have a juice place on campus. The only problem is that it might also take business away from other stores in the area.”

The college hopes that this new dining option will be beneficial to the community.

“Iona College is excited to move forward on a commitment we made several years ago to provide the community with a casual, convenient and contemporary dining destination,” Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration Anne Marie Schettini-Lynch said.

“With the SAGE Café, we are not only delivering on our pledge, but complementing our other broad based efforts to beautify North Avenue, add to its commercial base and provide needed on-campus housing for our students,” Schettini-Lynch said in the press release.

The SAGE Café now must go through the approval phase with the city, according to the press release. Iona has been providing funds to New Rochelle to help improve the roads around the college on public property. With Iona’s meal plan, over two million dollars in revenue is generated for the participating vendors on North Ave, the press release also mentions.

Local officials are looking forward to SAGE opening.

“The Café is good news for both Iona and the larger community, and it honors Iona’s commitment to restore dining service at the location of the old Mirage,” New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson said. “As a whole, this project illustrates the positive benefits of the college-community partnerships.”

SAGE is expected to open on Aug. 1, according to Schettini-Lynch. The timeline is subject to change, based on the approval process and the construction timetables. The concept for the dining location was developed by an external group and will be owned and operated by them.

“Iona will be their landlord,” Schettini-Lynch said.