Waterfront dining could be coming to the Delaware River at the former Morrisville Water Works site.

The owners of Yardley's popular La La Lobster on Main Street plan to open a seafood bar called Calhoun's River Deck at the nearly one-acre site near the Calhoun Street Bridge.

The couple, Nicole and Frederick Rabena, of Lower Makefield, doing business as the Yardley Restaurant Group, also have their sights set on turning the old Friendly's restaurant on West Trenton Avenue into a Yardley Distillery Tex-Mex, they told Morrisville Borough Council on Tuesday night.

The Rabenas have an agreement of sale for the Water Works site and have already purchased the Friendly's site.

Besides La La Lobster, the couple have two other restaurants in Yardley — Sauce of Yardley and Mil-Lee's Diner. They also run Yardley Distillery, and three other La La Lobster restaurants in Doylestown and in Princeton and Cape May, New Jersey.

More:All new mom-and-pop cafe, Turkish restaurant, and French bakery opening in Bucks County

More:Yardley's La La Lobster expands menu at new dine-in seafood shack

"We're extremely excited to be here," Fred Rabena told council members. "We wanted to come in to say hello."

"Welcome, we're very excited to have you," Morrisville Council President Robert Paul replied.

The couple said they like to support small businesses and are looking forward to their new ventures in Morrisville.

Water works has deck overlooking the Delaware River

The former Water Works property is situated on almost an acre at 650 N. Delmorr and has been listed for sale by the Morrisville Economic Development Corp. through the SVN Ahia Commercial Real Estate agency based in Langhorne.

The property has 354 feet of frontage on the Delaware River with two parking lots off Delmorr Avenue.

A settling basin at the site dates to 1914, with the filtration plant being built in 1922. A 250,000 water tower is also on the site, which is next to the Delaware Canal Towpath and close to the Calhoun Street Bridge to Trenton. It's in close proximity to the Route 1 Expressway and Route 29 in New Jersey.

SVN described the property in its listing as offering "a unique location along the walking path of the Delaware River with a large patio overlooking the river."

When the Rabenas said they planned to have a dining deck there, several council members expressed delight. Morrisville has long looked to develop its waterfront and has worked to find commercial opportunities there to support the tax base.

"That's fantastic," said Council Member Helen Hlahol.

The site will be operated as a bar/restaurant with a focus on raw seafood such as clams and oysters. The couple didn't say if they expect to need zoning variances for their two projects in the borough.

Chichi Ahia, executive director of SVN Ahia, said the riverfront property didn't have a listing price, but there were multiple offers. It was on the market about 10 months.

"We wanted a use that would be good for the community," he said, but didn't disclose the price the Yardley Restaurant Group paid, but said the MEDC selected the buyer both because of their offer and their experience in the restaurant industry.

The property should go to settlement within the next couple of weeks.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Morrisville Water Works redeveloped as seafood bar; Friendly's goes Tex-Mex