You’ll hardly recognize the former Crocodile Lounge on 14th Street

Here is a current (as of the other evening) view of 325 E. 14th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

Workers had been renovating the building from late last year and into 2025. If you recall the old Crocodile Lounge, you may need to double-check the address, as the space now features a glassy double entryway that feels more SoHo than East 14th Street. 

The retail space, which is for lease ("retail, food, fitness, and other service concepts"), has been home to restaurants for many years, including Il Faro and, in the 1990s, Manila Garden. Crocodile Lounge never reopened after the COVID shutdown in March 2020. 

As previously reported, in a transaction posted last October, an LLC affiliated with The Sabet Group purchased the four-story building for $3.3 million, down from its initial asking price of $5.5 million. 

For generations, a family has owned the building known as The James McCreery House. Read its history here.