A new cafe called Tasty Greens is slated to open soon inside the atrium connecting Ann Arbor's city hall and the new police-courts building at the corner of Fifth and Huron.

As part of the Ann Arbor Municipal Center project, which included major renovations to city hall and the new addition, the city has dedicated a 440-square-foot space on the first floor for a cafe, with a possible additional outdoor dining area and dining in the atrium.

Tom Crawford, the city's chief financial officer, said two vendors responded to a request for proposals the city sent out. The winner is Primo Coffee, which once operated inside the ground-level space now occupied by AnnArbor.com at the corner of Fifth and Liberty.

The business currently has three locations in Washtenaw County, with its main one at 1816 Whittaker Road in Ypsilanti Township.

The city of Ann Arbor has dedicate a 440-square-foot space on the first floor of city hall for a new cafe called Tasty Greens expected to open by the end of September or early October.

Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com

"I think that his inspiration for the new name includes reflecting the city's focus on employee wellness, which includes healthy food options," said Wendy Welser, the city's customer service manager.

Welser said Tasty Greens will continue to offer many of the same items offered at other Primo Coffee locations, including coffee and other specialty drinks, as well as smoothies, muffins, pastries and chips. She said the new cafe also will incorporate healthier choices like fresh fruit and veggies, low-cal sandwich wraps, salads with low-cal dressings and fat-free frozen yogurt.

Welser said the cafe is expected to open by the end of September or early October. She said the owner is in the process of finalizing a floor plan and getting it submitted to the city's building department for approval and the necessary permits.

Crawford said the contract isn't yet signed since the city is still working through the details, but it's expected to last five years with 30 percent of the cafe's profits payable to the city as rent. He said profit, more precisely, means gross revenues minus operating expenditures.

Asked what that might mean in rental income for the city, Crawford said he's not sure but he suspects it won't be much. The primary objective, he said, is to have the cafe available.

"This is a difficult business model to make money, so I suspect it won't be material and may be break-even," he said.

The cafe space, located immediately inside the new main entrance to city hall off Huron Street, looks out at a newly renovated plaza area where a rain garden is being constructed and where a German artist's sculpture is expected to be installed within the next month.

The city has a little more than 700 employees, not all of whom work out of the six-story city hall or the adjacent five-story Justice Center, which houses courts and police. Among other city work sites is the city's fire department headquarters located across the street from city hall.

Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's e-mail newsletters.