Mercadito Cantina closed at the end of January 2011 at 172 Avenue B ... and the space between East 10th Street and East 11th Street has remained empty.
The proprietors of Ditch Plains had hoped to open a lounge called The Asphalt Jungle here ... However, in April 2013, the CB3/SLA committee voted to deny the Asphalt Jungle application during a rather ugly meeting. (Read about that here.) ... and the owners reportedly decided to scrap their plans.
Anyway, we recently noticed the arrival of a new for rent sign from a different broker.
Per the listing, the asking rent on the 1,000-square-foot space is $7,800... that's down from $10,000 a month from a listing in October 2013.
Meanwhile, across the street, the flagship Mercadito space remains on the market...
The popular taco spot closed back in March. We never heard an official reason for the closure, though one EVG reader said they were facing a triple-rent increase.
Previously on EV Grieve:
About Mercadito Cantina closing:'Open letter to EV Grieve and CB3' (58 comments)
13 comments:
I simply can't understand why people aren't lining up to plunk down $7800 a month for a space with claustrophobic, graffiti-laden, garbage-strewn, shitty-looking facade like that one.
One hopes that perhaps the market has hit the ceiling but it could be that this low traffic block has just not found the right business. I live close by and will fight anyone's attempt to add another bar or open facade "restaurant" here.
Another reason people are not lining up to lease this restaurant could be the lack of a "Legal" vent for cooking, the one there now is attached to a neighbors building???
Avenue B north resembles a 19th century mid west ghost town. Congrats CB3 and 1980s gentrifiers who now believe the EV belongs to them because they got here before the more current gentrifiers. . You've emptied out a bunch of commercial spaces, killed dozens of jobs, set the stage for graffiti artists and vandals, took dollars out of taxi drivers pockets, and killed much needed business for the dozens more restaurant related suppliers and vendors in the other 4 boroughs. You have your dark quiet suburban street though. Just like the one you grew up on back home. NICE WORK.
Anon,7:17
Excuse us for stopping yet another millennial douche bar from opening here. After all we and not the greedy landlords kicked out the taco palaces a few years ago. Apologis to all the cab drivers which have to bring their passengers to another bar one block away instead of this block, and all those waiter jobs lost... I feel guilty I may not be able to sleep tonight, oh wait I will sleep tonight because now douche bro bar will keep me awake.
I'm all about keeping the bros out, but I'm curious as to what all these haters think SHOULD go into all these vacant places. Just because a new restaurant opens doesn't mean there's going to be a massive douche bag influx. There are so many closings now on Ave A and B, basically all due to rent hikes, that I don't know what kind of places could ever afford to survive and it really is starting to look depressing with all these shuttered doors and windows. I've lived in this hood for almost 20yrs on 11th btwn B and C and personally I like having lots of restaurant (and bar) options, as long as they aren't sports bars and bottomless brunch spots. Having a lively, happy neighborhood with charming places to go out is something I personally love about this area (again, not a fan of bros, but you can still have bars and restaurants without bros) Both Mercadito joints were great and it's a shame they had to close. It's funny because so many of these commenters complain about the bars and restaurants, but then when these establishments close and more "quiet" places like Duane Reades and banks open in their place, they complain about those places too! So again, out of curiosity, what is the solution that would make everyone happy?
I'm in business and have been for 15 years and I can tell you that you need to know some basic math before opening any kind of business. What is your overhead, what is the street traffic like during the day and night, who will patronize my business, how can I attract a client that will help be cover my expenses and have a little bit to live on. The spaces on Ave B are small and similar to commercial spaces found on residential streets. Ave B must be the smallest avenue in Manhattan. If your idea is to open a restaurant you will need a liquor licenses to make a profit, there is little to no money to make in selling food. To sell a lot of alcohol you need a heavy drinking customer which means, young, wild, inexperienced drinkers who keep coming back for more. It become clear that you need to open a sports bar or a noisy brunch spot with expensive cocktails. The latest ploy used for bar owners is to pose as small restaurant owners, then when the liquor license is granted by the state you convert your quite cafe into a bro bar. If you have been paying attention you might have noticed this happening a lot in the past few years.
Landlords are big players in all of this. Greed comes first and the health and character of a neighborhood has little to do with who they rent their commercial spaces to. The insane rents make most businesses which could enhance our neighborhood with a useful service or product are prohibited by the high rents. What happens next is we get more sports bars with open facades during the warm weather months, an invasion of heavy drinkers who leave a trail of vomit and garbage, fights and sleepless nights for the rest of us. Since all landlords live far away from this mess they only care about getting a rent check.
If you really think we "need" bars in the EV then you might have a drinking problem.
there were plenty of bars/restaurants before the bros came. it's the rent hikes that are the problem, because the only places that can survive are the ones that rely on heavy alcohol sales. open facades and liquor licenses don't automatically equal bros puking and screaming in the streets. rent hikes where the only people who can afford to live in this neighborhood are bros .... that's when there's a problem. icon realty and ben shaoul are the real enemy here and what is driving this kind of behavior. closing everything on ave a and b is not the solution, because even more bro magnets are going to open in the place of everything that's closing.
Open facades come with loud music (club level). Loud music means louder patrons screaming just to hold a conversation, all of that noise attracts the "spring break" freaks and eventually it all spills onto the streets. I'm not asking for utter silence, I know a city is a noisy place but this is not accidental but designed to create a party atmosphere outside a restaurant for as long as the weather permits. Meanwhile if you have to pass one of these place (or several in a row which is usually the case) or have the misfortune of living above or nearby you want to be away from your home as much as possible. All this so a bar / restaurant can build another McMansion on Long Island.
Mercadito and Mercadito Cantina were legitimate restaurants and were assets to the neighborhood. Cantina should have been granted a liquor license. They practically begged for one at a CB3 meeting before they shut down stating that food sales alone could not susatin them. Setzer told them if they closed it would just create new opportuinty for someone else. 6 years later the place sits vacant, covered with graffiti.
Totally agree 7:42pm. Denying all these places liquor licenses isn't the answer. Legit restaurants want to open in these places and if they keep getting denied then the only other places that can survive are banks and drugstores, which everyone will inevitably bitch about. Just because a restaurant can serve cocktails doesn't mean it's going to turn into a frat party that spills into the streets. To reiterate what another commenter said, what do all you haters suggest go into all these vacant spots? Were you happy to see places like mercadito, back forty, and basically every front on ave a btwn 9 and 10 close? Restaurants need to sell booze to make money, period. Restaurants also attract money, attention, and prosperity (in a good way) to a neighborhood which can help clean up the streets and promote safety. Would love to see what would happen if everything closed and it turned back into the early 80s over here ..... Lots of cheap rent but then everyone would find something else to moan about.
The 80' and early 90's gentrifiers want vacant grafitti buildings covered buildings and dark dangerous streets. Reminds their mid-life crisis butts of when they were you and free and they still had some fire in their bellies. They've now regressed back to the mid-western small town people of their childhood and are truing to bring NYC back with 'em.
Unchecked greed has crushed the life potential out of the EV. At what point does the city say enough is enough? For fuck's sake it's getting to the point where not only can small businesses not afford the rent, but new shops won't even bother trying to open up new spots due to the extremely exaggerated rent costs. I guess the real estate ghouls would rather our neighborhoods be littered with shuttered gates than thriving local businesses. One would think they'd rather be getting a reduced rent income rather than NO income at all????
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