Friday, September 2, 2016

Icon Realty buys building that housed Surma Books & Music for 98 years on 7th Street



Surma Books & Music closed earlier this summer at 11 E. Seventh St. near Cooper Square after 98 years in business.

Third-generation owner Markian Surmach had cited a decline in business and the expense of property tax and other charges related to owning the building.

According to public records, the Surmach family sold the property to the historically controversial Icon Realty for $5.75 million. (Surmach's grandfather reportedly paid $15,000 for the building in an undisclosed year.)

And the retail space that housed the Ukrainian specialty store is now on the retail market... signs went up yesterday...



According to the listing, the asking rent is $17,000 a month. The space "can be vented" and is "perfect for: Restaurant, bar, clothing store, salon, and all general retail uses."

20 comments:

DrBOP said...

Used to be

I con
You con
We all con

Now it's ICON
When did the Rat Bastards take control?


And here's a plan. I'm purchasing a 1500 sqft building North Of The Border. Combine what I will be paying for the building AND fixing it up, WITH a ginchy off-grid solar set-up, WITH hi-speed net for less than 6 months rent of the retail rent of 'dis joint.

Why a plan? Punch in "fixer-upper Upstate New York/Vermont/NEW JERSEY/etc" and SEE what comes up. You'll be amazed!
(Note: ignore the gentrifuckers selling the $1.2Mill "fixer-upper".)

WHAT?!?!? Leave NYC? With the net, delivery of just about ANYthing sold in NYC, ALL NYC media streaming in one form or another AND EVGrieve (who will be doing this into his 90s, I'm sure;^) and occasional trips back to the burg:
YOU TOO can tell these fuckers to shove it up their asses......SIDEWAYS!

(I fully know that I'm feedin' on the adrenaline of my current project, and this idea is NOT for EVERYbody.....but it's doable folks.....just as most changes in life, it's NEVER easy....but neither does it seem easy around here anymore.)

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Anonymous said...

Yes, $17K a month. Enjoy what's left of your ville whilst you can, cause... it's really over for some of us.

But as is demonstrated daily, if you are an oligarch or the child of an oligarch, it's just beginning! Maybe TayTay will shop in your store, or Kimyae will Instagram you. Fun!

Anonymous said...

This is how is happens. This is how the neighborhood changes and is groomed toward the ultra wealthy who are the only people to afford living here. :(

JQ LLC said...

If the feds can't bust Hillary for being criminally negligent with classified material, they certainly are incapable of following the money enabling these oligarch developers so they can make these purchases.

See Vanishing New York's recent post on high rent blight (which I assume the majority of readers here may have already). This will remain vacant for as long as they want it.

http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/2016/08/vacant-new-york.html

Apparently and disturbingly and repulsively surreal, our carbon footprint biking concern marketing folks at citibank effortlessly finds the positivity in sights like these.

https://twitter.com/citibank/status/733708900147453953

Since this is ICON, will this property feature some abominable abstract cartoon street art too?


JQ LLC said...

https://twitter.com/citibank/status/733708900147453953

Anonymous said...

Wow.

Anonymous said...

The Feds have nothing on Hillary, get over it Trump/Sanders/Johnson/Stein/Whoever/Whatever supporter.

Clinton's gonna run for POTUS knowing she could be busted? I don't think so.

Anonymous said...

ICON is turning what little remains of our neighborhood into a living hell for those who actually LIVE in the east village and aren't just passing though to puke, pee and stupidly pay over inflated rents before they wise up and move on.

cmarrtyy said...

Vote with your wallet. Don't patronize any business in an ICON building. Simple. Hating on the EVGrieve blog is one thing, doing something really destructive is another. Power to the people... and the purse!

Gojira said...

All of you within a 2-block vicinity of that place, stock up on ear plugs NOW. First will come the construction crews, and when they are finished, the garden blowouts and rooftop ragers. Trust me, it will not be pleasant.

Anonymous said...

I envision a bar for bros and duche bags.

Anonymous said...

I understand they went with their family's financial security when making this pact with the devil, but as a Ukrainian in this community, I'm heartbroken that the building that was home to Surma for so long went to the very devil that drove our beloved Stage out of business.

#tacotrucksandvarenykyoneverycorner !

deva said...

I understand they felt the need to sell but if they HAD to sell to iCON, they should have held out for several more million. They would have gotten it. Also I feel there should be a legal limit to the number of buildings one developer can buy in a neighborhood. There are a few big names buying everything and playing us like a game of monopoly. It needs to be stopped. They're given incentives and tax breaks to buy, which makes them richer, which gives them money to buy more and get even richer still so they buy more... It's a broken system that does not end well for us.

Anonymous said...

@8:45pm: Agree with you completely.

As for Icon, based on what I've watched them do on my block, their renovation workers will be hired off-the-street-corner and not necessarily competent in a given trade. (Union labor and things done to standard? Don't hold your breath!)

In terms of retail, I will NOT give a penny of my $$ to any retail in any Icon-owned building.

Anonymous said...

Ha! I/con is not even posting their twisted, wrung out of old tenants building logo or name on the rental signs. Maybe their spin dr shill Chris Coffey is onto the fact that their name is crap. I/con's name is on overpriced, empty store fronts all over the EV.

So sad. The streets are lined with BMWs and Mercedes in the EV adventure park for the entitled who grew up on Friends and Sex and the City. We have created monsters and they are our children. Uber-capitalism is all and the soul of a once great and diverse city has turned into a mall. Vive la revolution!

Anonymous said...

What a shame that Surma sold their building to ICON Realty!

Anonymous said...

For years now, Icon Realty has been aggressively displacing rent-regulated tenants to make room for ultra-high rent paying tenants. Like other bad-acting landlords, Icon Realty has exposed tenants to hazardous health and safety threats, brought dozens of lawsuits against tenants, and continue to deny tenants their right to live in these buildings without fear of extreme tactics to remove them.

Anonymous said...

Avoid Icon Realty at all costs. Icon Realty are a nightmare landlord specializing in harassing rent stabilized tenants and forcing out long time small businesses. Boycott them and force them out of business.

ruins of st. ann's said...

Institutional (or neighborhood) memory is a dangerous thing...

DrBOP said...

Last shot.....thought FOR SURE that this article would take me over to 419 Lafayette St :

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/great-white-shark-nursery-discovered-near-new-york-180960278/?utm_source=smithsoniantopic&no-ist



Ha!