Former B Bar & Grill cleared from the Bowery

That's all for the former B Bar & Grill on Fourth Street and the Bowery ... as the demolition, which started late last year, wraps up here on the SW corner.

The photo here is at the former entrance to the one-time hotspot (dating to the mid-1990s)...

And next UP: a 21-floor office building. We got a first look at the Midtown-friendly monstrosity here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• CB Developers pay $59.5 million for an interest in 358 Bowery — current home of the B Bar & Grill and likely a new development

• B Bar & Grill lays off its staff without severance

• Permits filed to demolish the former B Bar & Grill on the Bowery

• First sign of the B Bar & Grill-replacing 21-story office building on the Bowery   

Bracing for new construction at the former B Bar & Grill space on the Bowery

Demolition continues over at the former B Bar & Grill space on the Bowery at Fourth Street.

This past week, steel braces arrived on the wall adjacent to the property — 356 Bowery...

Not sure if these are to support the adjacent building during the demo or if they are part of the foundation for the incoming 21-story office building slated for the former restaurant space.

The B Bar (b 1994) never reopened after the PAUSE in March 2020. Our previous posts have more background on this development via Bowery Hotel owner Eric Goode. 

2022 corner watch: 360 Bowery

Here's another corner development to watch in 2022. 

We've written a lot of what's coming to the former B Bar & Grill space on the SW corner of Fourth Street at the Bowery. 

In early December, workers prepped the one-level structure for demolition. This past week, the six honey locust trees were removed from the former restaurant's courtyard. It's not known if they were chopped down or, possibly, transplanted. (An EVG reader had called 311 about the trees.)

A recap to date...

As we first reported in January 2021, permits were filed for a 21-floor mixed-use development — a 283-foot-tall office building. (For comparison, the Standard East Village, a block to the north, is 21 floors.) The city approved the permits on Nov. 16, per public records.

According to plans, the well-employed architect Morris Adjmi's building will encompass 98,799 square feet, with 26,000 square feet set aside as an unspecified community facility. 

CB Developers paid $59.5 million for a stake in 358-360 Bowery, a gas station before its conversion into the bar-restaurant. B Bar owner Eric Goode, who owns a handful of hotels, including the Bowery Hotel across the way, assembled air rights to build the more extensive development on this corner space. 

As for the B Bar, the one-time hot spot (circa the mid-1990s) was expected to close for good in August 2020. However, the place never reopened after the PAUSE in March 2020. On April 3, 2020, nearly 70 B Bar employees were laid off without any extension of benefits or offer of severance pay.

In the weeks ahead, look for the full demolition of the building... and the ascent of the new development. 

Previously on EV Grieve:
• CB Developers pay $59.5 million for an interest in 358 Bowery — current home of the B Bar & Grill and likely a new development

• B Bar & Grill lays off its staff without severance

• Permits filed to demolish the former B Bar & Grill on the Bowery

• First sign of the B Bar & Grill-replacing 21-story office building on the Bowery 

More about the layoffs at B Bar & Grill

[EVG file photo]

As we reported back on April 3, nearly 70 employees of the B Bar & Grill on the Bowery at Fourth Street were laid off in late March without any extension of benefits or offer of severance pay.

One of the now-unemployed B Bar staffers shared the letter sent to employees and signed by owner Eric Goode ...


[Click to go big]

As one former employee said:

Eric Goode responded to employee pleas for two weeks paid leave with very little - some directions about how to apply for unemployment and a "yours truly" sign off. This termination without pay was sudden and decisive, leaving many of the staff left with nothing to feed their families. Many of these staff members have worked at 20-plus years. Mr. Goode is currently living on his multimillion-dollar ranch in California.

Goode has enjoyed positive press in recent weeks for his role as the co-director and co-writer (along with Rebecca Chaiklin) of "Tiger King," the hit docuseries that recently debuted on Netflix.

BuzzFeed News talked with several former employees in a piece published earlier in the week titled "Their Wealthy Boss Was The Director Of 'Tiger King.' They Got Laid Off And Can’t Pay Their Bills."

[F]our staff members at the restaurant told BuzzFeed News that unlike other wealthy hospitality leaders who have donated salaries and worked to fundraise for those suddenly out of work, they have heard nothing from Goode as he enjoys Hollywood attention. Goode, they say, has the wealth and cultural influence to help them at a time when they need it most.

“They have families, they have children, they have mortgages to pay, and they spent a lot of their life working for B Bar,” said Luis Lugo, a former floor manager. “You’re the director of Tiger King and you own the Jane Hotel and you’re not a small mom-and-pop shop that’s struggling. You’re someone that has the financial resources to make a difference.”

And...

“It strikes me as unjust that I worked a long time for him and didn’t get anything in return,” said Eloy Aguilar, who worked for 25 years at B Bar as a line cook. “We need economic help, not just for me but also my other colleagues.”

There is a staff-driven GoFundMe campaign here.

As reported last fall, CB Developers paid $59.5 million for a stake in 358 Bowery — the B Bar & Grill's home since 1994. Goode, who owns a handful of hotels including the Bowery Hotel, has been assembling air rights to build a larger project on this corner space. B Bar was expected to close for good in August, per the former employee.

Previously on EV Grieve:
CB Developers pay $59.5 million for an interest in 358 Bowery — current home of the B Bar & Grill and likely a new development

B Bar & Grill lays off its staff without severance

First hint of future development at the current home of B Bar & Grill

[EVG file photo]

On Tuesday, reps for the owners of 358 Bowery filed a work permit for this space on the southwest corner of the Bowery and Fourth Street.

The job description reads this way, in the all-caps style of the Department of Buildings:

REMOVE AND REPLACE ALL COMBUSTIBLE STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS WITH NON COMBUSTIBLE MATERIALS. CHANGE CONSTRUCTION CLASSIFICATION OF BUILDING FROM CLASS 3 NON-FIREPROOF (38 CODE) TO CLASS 1-E (1968 CODE).

Not the biggest breaking-news type of work order. What makes it interesting is the hint of future development on this corner that it offers: Prolific architect Morris Adjmi is listed as the applicant of record, per the DOB.



Adjmi's high-end residential projects in the neighborhood include 45 E. Seventh St., 363 Lafayette, 250 Bowery and 116 University Place. (He also designed the building that will eventually go up at 3 St. Mark's Place.)

As reported last fall, CB Developers paid $59.5 million for a stake in 358 Bowery — the current home of the B Bar & Grill. Hotelier Eric Goode, who owns B Bar, has been assembling air rights to build a larger project on this corner space.

This warehousing of parcels will likely also mean the end of B Bar & Grill, which opened in 1994. There aren't any announcements on the B Bar's website, though they are only taking reservations now through April 9.

Previously on EV Grieve:
CB Developers pay $59.5 million for an interest in 358 Bowery — current home of the B Bar & Grill and likely a new development

Another look at the corner of 4th Street and the Bowery

A follow up to our post last week that CB Developers plunked down $59.5 million for a piece of the action at 358 Bowery — the current home of the B Bar & Grill.

There was some reader speculation about the surrounding buildings on the Bowery, and if those might be snapped up to become some part of an even larger development.

This doesn't appear likely. For starters, 356 Bowery to the south of B Bar & Grill already changed hands earlier this year.

According to Real Estate Weekly, the property sold for $8.9 million to an LLC that shares an address with Realex Capital, a "real estate acquisition and development owner-operator."

And per REW, the building was to be delivered vacant. There are currently plans on file with the DOB for "repair of an existing 5-story brick building including replacement of deteriorated wood joists and repair/replacement of damaged masonry."



Meantime, 354 Bowery remains on the sales market with an ask of $5.65 million...



The listing notes, with a straight face: "Built by the Astors, squatted by the Ramones and Andy Warhol, then rediscovered in the 2000’s by Manhattan’s financial elite, NoHo has become the downtown residential neighborhood for those craving luxury lofts with a bohemian, eclectic vibe."

The retail tenant here, Hecho en Dumbo, closed in June 2018.

As for 358 Bowery, Eric Goode, whose multiple interests include the Jane Hotel, the Bowery Hotel and the Waverly Inn, has been assembling air rights to build a larger project on this corner space that houses his single-level B Bar & Grill.

According to PincusCo:

In January and February 2017, Goode filed records with four additional parcels into a single zoning lot which would allow for a larger building on the site. In addition, Goode paid Granite Management, which owns two of those buildings, $1.6 million for 4,670 square feet of development rights and Goode paid $1.8 million to a small cooperative building at 32 East 4th Street for 4,012 square feet of development rights.

This warehousing parcels will likely also mean the end of B Bar & Grill, which opened in 1994.

Previously on EV Grieve:
CB Developers pay $59.5 million for an interest in 358 Bowery — current home of the B Bar & Grill and likely a new development

CB Developers pay $59.5 million for an interest in 358 Bowery — current home of the B Bar & Grill and likely a new development

[Via Google Street View]

It looks like the corner site that houses B Bar & Grill, which helped usher in a new upscale era on the Bowery when it opened in 1994, will yield to a new development with the help of air rights from nearby parcels.

Public records show that Charles Blaichman's CB Developers, whose portfolio includes multiple projects along the High Line, purchased an interest in 358 Bowery, which is owned by downtown hotel impresario Eric Goode, for $59.5 million.



Goode bought the property on the Bowery at Fourth Street in 2004 from the Cooper Union for $5.5 million. According to PincusCo, Goode, whose multiple interests include the Jane Hotel, the Bowery Hotel and the Waverly Inn, has been assembling air rights to build a larger project on this corner space.

In January and February 2017, Goode filed records with four additional parcels into a single zoning lot which would allow for a larger building on the site. In addition, Goode paid Granite Management, which owns two of those buildings, $1.6 million for 4,670 square feet of development rights and Goode paid $1.8 million to a small cooperative building at 32 East 4th Street for 4,012 square feet of development rights.

In reporting on the deal, @TradedNY speculated: "Office dev coming soon?"

The transaction will likely also mean the end of B Bar & Grill, whose arrival at the site of a former gas station was marked by controversy in 1994.

Per Forgotten New York: "The NoHo Neighborhood Association, Community Board 2 and the SoHo Alliance were concerned that this conversion would change the character of the neighborhood and mounted a lawsuit, arguing on the basis that the neighborhood was dominated by light industry and artists. The area had 47 one-story buildings, and there was a fear that precedent would be set for conversion of many these buildings into clubs." (The Times had a report here in 1994.) The plaintiffs withdrew the lawsuit in 1995.

To date nothing has been made public about the B Bar & Grill's future.

Report: Attacker repeatedly punches man dining at B Bar and Grill

Surveillance video published by NBC 4 New York this evening shows a man run up to a diner sitting in the covered patio at B Bar and Grill and repeatedly punch the victim.

The incident occurred last Wednesday night at the restaurant on Fourth Street at the Bowery.

Per NBC 4:

The footage ... shows the assailant run up from out of the frame as the patron sits and stares at a fireplace. The attacker throws one haymaker after another until several others rush to help the victim.

The 29-year-old victim, who asked not to be identified because the attacker is still on the loose, told NBC 4 New York that his head still hurts several days after the attack.

And...

The victim said there was no warning that he was about to be attacked and that he didn't remember saying anything to the man beforehand. He said over the weekend that he thought he may have been targeted because he was gay.

Police could not confirm whether the incident was being investigated as a hate crime, according to DNAinfo.

Patch reported that the attack took place around 11 p.m.

None of the media reports had any description of the suspect. An earlier post at NBC 4 included this photo of the alleged suspect...



You can watch the video over at NBC 4.

Anyone with information that could help in the investigation is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). You may also submit tips online.

Raindrops keep falling on B Bar patrons' heads....

During this afternoon's downpour... a reader files a report (including the above photo) from the Bowery:

"crazy roof leaks at b bar. puddles on floor. patrons holding umbrellas."

Perhaps they'll need to building up the wall outside to keep out the floodwaters...

[Via]