Bar and restaurant to open in LOVE Park this year

Valerie Safran and Chef Marcie Turney, the couple known for turning one stretch of 13th Street in Washington Square into their own restaurant row, will open a new bar and restaurant in LOVE Park this year.

Called Loveluck, it will occupy the Fairmount Park Welcome Center, the circular building near 16th Street and JFK Boulevard that is often likened to a spaceship or flying saucer. A spokesman for the restaurateurs said it would open sometime later this year and that more details would be announced next Wednesday at a news conference held by the city.

Loveluck will be the sixth Center City restaurant for Safran and Turney, whose other businesses include Barbuzzo, Bud & Marilyn’s, Lolita, and Little Nonna’s. They are partnering with Terence Lewis, a longtime manager and beverage director for their company, Safran Turney Hospitality.

Built in 1960, the Welcome Center at the southwest corner of the park has in recent years been undergoing extensive renovations as part of the recent multimillion-dollar LOVE Park revitalization. The project, which is being overseen by architecture firm KieranTimberlake, includes new windows, roofing and extensive interior work. The completed restaurant will seat 50 to 55 people inside and have additional outdoor balcony and terrace seating for 135.

Safran and Turney indicated last year they were expanding their empire to East Passyunk Avenue, and last month they announced plans to open an outpost of Bud & Marilyn’s at Philadelphia International Airport.