Pura Vida Miami has expanded its wellness-focused cafe concept to New England with a new location in Cambridge’s Harvard Square. The brand has opened at 95 Mount Auburn St., taking the entire ground floor of a three-story, Class A office and retail property adjacent to Harvard University. The opening marks Pura Vida Miami’s first cafe in both Massachusetts and the broader Northeast U.S., extending its presence beyond its core markets.
The property, totaling 12,984 square feet, is owned by an affiliate of Boston-based The Bulfinch Companies. Bulfinch executed the lease with Pura Vida Miami in the first quarter, securing the cafe operator as a ground-floor tenant in the mixed-use building. The asset combines office space on the upper floors with street-level retail, positioning the new cafe to capture both neighborhood foot traffic and demand from nearby institutional and office users.
Bulfinch previously appointed Boston Realty Advisors as the building’s retail leasing agent, engaging the firm last year to lead marketing and tenanting efforts for the property’s street-level space. The addition of Pura Vida Miami aligns with that strategy by bringing a recognizable wellness-oriented concept to a high-visibility corner of Harvard Square.
Founded in Miami in 2012, Pura Vida Miami has grown from a local concept into a national cafe chain. The company is headquartered in Miami’s Wynwood district and now operates more than 50 locations across seven states and Washington, D.C. The Harvard Square location extends that footprint into a new regional market and places the brand within one of Greater Boston’s most established urban retail nodes.
Commenting on the lease, Michael Wilcox, managing director of leasing at Bulfinch, noted that Harvard Square is experiencing a genuine retail resurgence. He described Pura Vida Miami’s arrival as an example of the quality of brands choosing to invest in the submarket, underscoring how the tenancy reflects improving demand for well-located, ground-floor retail space in the area.
Image courtesy of The Bulfinch Companies.
