Chase unveils its Coffee Shop-replacing sign on Union Square

Chase, the newish tenant on the southwest corner of West 16th Street and Union Square West, has erected its new vertical sign on the building — a bland attempt at replicating the familiar neon that was here for 60-plus years.

Food writer Nick Solares shared these photos...



A little history. The Coffee Shop, the Brazilian-American diner run by former Wilhelmina models, closed here in October 2018 after 28 years in business. The Chase branch opened on Dec. 17 ... along with Chase-partnered Joe Coffee. (There's also another vegan quick-serve outpost of by CHLOE on the 16th Street side.)

During the renovations, workers removed the 1950s-era Coffee Shop neon sign — which belonged to the cafe (called Chase, oddly enough) that predated the Coffee Shop by several businesses.

There was some hope that the old sign would return after a cleaning/refurbishment. Obviously that isn't happening.


[Photo via Jeremiah Moss]

Have you seen the former Coffee Shop space on Union Square?

Several EVG readers have shared photos of the recent storefront transformation on the southwest corner of West 16th Street and Union Square West ...



The Coffee Shop closed here in October 2018 after 28 years in business. As you may already know, the Chase branch opened on Dec. 17 ... along with Chase-partnered Joe Coffee. There's also another vegan quick-serve outpost of by CHLOE on the 16th Street side.

Gothamist has been documenting — here and here and here — the blandification of the space, which saw the removal of the classic neon Coffee sign.

How to murder a mid century facade. Thanks @Chase cc @evgrieve pic.twitter.com/0j17pHnyR9

— terrence (@artisanmatters) December 13, 2019

So much for @Chase bank keeping any of the iconic Coffee Shop signage 😢 #unionsquare @evgrieve @Gothamist pic.twitter.com/Rc8ks1wpAU

— deb kadetsky (@harobed8) December 7, 2019

As for the sign, it disappeared after 8 p.m. on Dec. 5...

@evgrieve Coffe Shop sign coming down? pic.twitter.com/r3RoF9YarN

— Alex G (@agorm13) December 6, 2019

No one seems to have any idea what happened to the sign, which predated the coffee shop.

Some signage history via Robert Sietsema at Eater:

Coffee Shop replaced an actual coffee shop called Chase but retained the coffee shop’s old neon sign that climbed the corner of the building, which said Coffee Shop in a gigantic font. In fact, it was probably one of the first places to “steal” the identity of a previous establishment, imbuing the neon sign with a certain irony.

Jeremiah Moss has more about the space here.


[Photo via Jeremiah Moss]

The 4th retail space in the former Chase space on Avenue A has a new tenant

Signage went up Tuesday for Supreme Martial Arts here at 20 Avenue A at Second Street.

With this, the former Chase branch that the landlord divided into four retails spaces is filled up...



There's the Omega Salad Bar & Deli (now under new management!), Halo Spa and Alphabet Pizza.

All serviceable businesses ... and much less glammy than what had been envisioned for the address. In early 2016, the broker — one of many — for 20 Avenue A showed the potential here for more-upscale wine-bar and retail tenant action...


[Click to go big]


[Ditto]

Chase vacated this storefront in November 2015.

Another broker for the former Chase branch on Avenue A

As noted yesterday, the Santander branch on Avenue A and Fourth Street will close on April 27. Neither here nor there but this will make Avenue A bank-branch free in late April. (Unless one opens before then...)

The Chase branch at 20 Avenue A and Second Street closed in November 2015 ... and that space remains on the market.

Late last week, a new wraparound for-lease sign arrived via Eastern Consolidated... and this is either the fifth or sixth (or seventh?) broker to try to rent the storefront in the past two-plus years. For example:


[October 2016]


[May 2016]


[February 2016]

Now, Eastern Consolidated has No. 20 listed at $110 per square foot. There's 4,000 square feet on the street level and another 4,000 in the basement. (PDF of the listing here.)

Eastville Comedy Club looked at moving from Fourth Street into part of the space at No. 20. However, CB3 denied the application last October, citing, among other reasons, that this address was never licensed before ... and that it exists in a saturated zone.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The retail-wine bar possibilities for the former Chase space on Avenue A and East 2nd Street

The retail space at 20 Avenue A no longer looks like a bank branch

Future Swiss Institute gets the plywood treatment on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

On Friday, workers started putting up the plywood around the former Chase branch on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place...



As previously reported, the Swiss Institute, a non-profit cultural center currently located on Wooster Street, has signed a lease for the whole building...



There aren't any permits on file with the DOB as of this morning about the renovation of this space. According to the previously distributed news advisory on the relocation:

Swiss Institute has hired Selldorf Architects to oversee the transformation of its new building. The 7,500 square foot space features four levels – basement, ground, second floor, and roof. The design for the building will create spaces for exhibitions, projects and public programs, a library, a bookstore, and a usable rooftop.

ARTnews floated a rumor that there will be a biergarten on the building's roof. A little early for more confirmation on that.

The Chase merged with the location two blocks to the north last November.

Steven took the above photos on Saturday... by yesterday, the ads had arrived...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Swiss Institute moving into the former Chase branch on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

It will now be more challenging to tag the front of the former Chase branch on 2nd Avenue

Workers this afternoon are installing roll-down gates outside 130 Second Ave. at St. Mark's Place...



People had been tagging the front of the former Chase on a regular basis... this one arrived overnight on Oct. 11...





The space will eventually be converted into the Swiss Institute, a non-profit cultural center currently located on Wooster Street. The Chase branch here consolidated with the one two blocks away last November.

Updated 10/20


[Photo by Steven]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Chase space on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place is for rent

2 East Village Chase Bank branches are closing for good on Nov. 12

Chase branch on 2nd Avenue at St. Mark's Place has the potential to get 4x larger with new owner

The East Village is down 2 Chase branches

Icon wraps former Chase branch at St. Mark's Place with retail ribbon

'Good riddance' Chase, and — a development to watch in 2016

A few more details on the Swiss Institute's move to the East Village

Noted

Blue picket fence alert this evening on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place... outside the former Chase ... soon to be the Swiss Institute.

Photo by Lola Sáenz

A few more details on the Swiss Institute's move to the East Village

As reported last Friday, the Swiss Institute, a non-profit cultural center currently located on Wooster Street, has signed a lease for 130 Second Ave. — the former Chase branch.

Landlord Icon Realty issued a news release about their new tenant. Here's part of it:

Icon Realty Management LLC has leased space to Swiss Institute, a non-profit contemporary arts center that promotes artistic dialogue between Switzerland and the United States. Swiss Institute seeks to explore how a national perspective can foster international conversations in the fields of visual and performing arts, design and architecture.

The new location will open in the Spring of 2017. The 7,500 square foot space will feature exhibitions, projects and public programs, a library, bookstore and rooftop. Additionally, Icon will be collaborating with Swiss Institute artists on public art murals at 128 Second Ave, the building next door to the Institute.

“Considering the vibrancy, diversity and ample foot traffic in the neighborhood, our move to the East Village will offer a vast array of opportunities to engage with our audience in new, stimulating ways,” says Swiss Institute Director Simon Castets. “We’re incredibly lucky to be on a street with such a deep artistic history as St Marks Place, and it’s exciting to imagine how this new location can help us in expanding our mission.”

Back in June, Icon announced a project in which artists would be creating murals on Icon properties in the city. Jerkface started work at 128 Second Ave., but the mural has remained incomplete since June...



We asked Icon spokesperson Chris Coffey what the status was on this project.

"We needed a lift to complete the mural, and applied for a permit. We are just waiting for DOT to issue," he said via email. "We are excited about it. One of the great things about Swiss Institute is that we will be collaborating on future murals."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Swiss Institute moving into the former Chase branch on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

Swiss Institute moving into the former Chase branch on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

[Photo from December by Steven]

Looks as if the former Chase branch on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place won't be torn down after all.

Back in February, landlord Icon Realty filed demolition permits for the address, 130 Second Ave.

At the time, there apparently weren't any takers for the space, which had been on the market since last summer with an asking price of $72,000 a month, per the listing. The address was being marketed for use as retail, a restaurants/bar, office space or a gym.

Now comes word that the Swiss Institute, a non-profit cultural center currently located on Wooster Street, has signed a lease for the space. Here is part of the news release:

Swiss Institute (SI) announced that it will be relocating to a new long-term home in New York City’s East Village, moving into a building at the corner of St. Marks Place and Second Avenue. The organization has selected Selldorf Architects to design the renovation of the 7,500 square foot building, due to open in the Spring of 2017.

Swiss Institute has hired Selldorf Architects to oversee the transformation of its new building. The 7,500 square foot space features four levels – basement, ground, second floor, and roof. The design for the building will create spaces for exhibitions, projects and public programs, a library, a bookstore, and a usable rooftop.



SI’s new home is located within half a mile of several prominent cultural and educational institutions including Anthology Film Archives, Cooper Union, Danspace Project, ICP, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, New Museum, New York University, The Poetry Project, and The Public Theater.

“This new building offers tremendous opportunities to expand upon our mission and serve a growing audience, to whom we will continue to offer forward-looking exhibitions and public programs, always free of charge”, said Swiss Institute Director Simon Castets. “We look forward to joining and contributing to the diverse community of cultural organizations and artists that have called the East Village home for many years.”

SI had lost their home in Soho to Jeffrey Deitch, per ARTnews.

As for the Chase branch, which merged with the one two blocks to the north, there were rumors galore about what Icon Realty was going to do to the space. Leasing to an arts organization was not among the predictions. In reporting on this move, ARTnews floated the following:

A rumor going around was that there would be a biergarten up top, which would befit a Swiss art concern, but at this time that tidbit is unconfirmed...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Chase space on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place is for rent

2 East Village Chase Bank branches are closing for good on Nov. 12

Chase branch on 2nd Avenue at St. Mark's Place has the potential to get 4x larger with new owner

The East Village is down 2 Chase branches

Icon wraps former Chase branch at St. Mark's Place with retail ribbon

'Good riddance' Chase, and — a development to watch in 2016

The retail space at 20 Avenue A no longer looks like a bank branch

The Chase branch at 20 Avenue A closed last Nov. 12.

Workers have now gutted the ground-floor interior at the corner of East Second Street... showing the space's potential for a new tenant...



As we noted a few weeks ago, there's a new broker for the space. (The third by our count since last June.)

According to the listing at Winick Realty Group, all uses will be considered. The rent is available upon request. Anyway, it's a big space — 4,300 square feet on the ground floor. (There's also a basement.)

Back in February, the listing via Town featured renderings showing two wine bars in this location.

The 62-unit apartment building here exchanged hands in the summer of 2014 for $26.2 million.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The retail-wine bar possibilities for the former Chase space on Avenue A and East 2nd Street

No deposits: Baiting the former Chase branch on 2nd Avenue for rats ahead of demolition

The orders are in to demolish the former Chase branch on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place.

Ahead of that, workers are baiting the building for rats, as you can see from the subtle placements of the baiting stations that arrived on the sidewalk on Wednesday ...



The Commercial Observer reported in August that J.P. Morgan Chase sold the 2-level space to Stellar Management for $12 million. (Stellar and Icon teamed up to buy No. 128 next door.) The former Chase site allows for redevelopment of the 2,380-square-foot site into a mixed-use retail and residential project of 9,520 square feet, according to the Observer.

Icon Realty had been trying to lease the space with an asking monthly rent of $72,000.

The branch consolidated with the Chase two blocks up Second Avenue back in November.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Chase space on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place is for rent

2 East Village Chase Bank branches are closing for good on Nov. 12

Chase branch on 2nd Avenue at St. Mark's Place has the potential to get 4x larger with new owner

The East Village is down 2 Chase branches

Icon wraps former Chase branch at St. Mark's Place with retail ribbon

'Good riddance' Chase, and — a development to watch in 2016

Icon Realty files permits to demolish the former Chase branch on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

[Photo from December by Steven]

Last time we checked in on the former Chase branch on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place, someone seemed pleased that the bank had merged with the location two blocks to the north...


[Photo from January by Steven]

Anyway, good riddance is accurate — to the whole two-story building. As Bedford + Bowery first noted yesterday, owner Icon Realty filed demolition permits for the address, 130 Second Ave., this past Friday.

Apparently there weren't any takers for the space, which had been on the market since last summer with an asking price of $72,000 a month, per the listing. The address was being marketed for use as retail, a restaurants/bar, office space or a gym. (The listing remains on the Icon website.)

The Commercial Observer reported in August that J.P. Morgan Chase sold the 2-level space to Stellar Management for $12 million. (Stellar and Icon teamed up to buy the gas-challenged No. 128 next door.)

The former Chase site allows for redevelopment of the 2,380-square-foot site into a mixed-use retail and residential project of 9,520 square feet, the Observer noted.

EVG regular commenter nygrump is among those who speculate that both 130 and 128 Second Ave. could potentially yield to some kind of large development. Here's nygrump on our last post on this address: "If Icon owns the corner lot and also the building next door where The Stage is, then they are probably strategizing to maximize the entire lot, take both buildings down and put up a tower. If zoning doesn't now allow, don't worry, it will. They'll do to 2nd Ave what they did to 3rd."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Chase space on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place is for rent

2 East Village Chase Bank branches are closing for good on Nov. 12

Chase branch on 2nd Avenue at St. Mark's Place has the potential to get 4x larger with new owner

The East Village is down 2 Chase branches

Icon wraps former Chase branch at St. Mark's Place with retail ribbon

'Good riddance' Chase, and — a development to watch in 2016

The retail-wine bar possibilities for the former Chase space on Avenue A and East 2nd Street

As you probably know, the Chase branch on Avenue A at East Second Street closed last Nov. 12 (along with the Chase on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place).

While the space had been for rent going back to last summer, when we spotted a smallish sign above the storefront... there's now a new broker and rental signage along the storefront here at 20 Avenue A...



And there are some realistic scalies too...





The renderings on the Town Real Estate PDF show potential retail and wine bar usage... with two outdoor cafes (one on A and one behind the property...)


[Click to go big]


[Ditto]

Overall, the upscale presentation of the property is so much more glamorous than the charmless bank-branch corner... the cover of the marketing materials announces "Your corner. Your brand. Your town." ... with images of a woman who forgot to open her mouth for the meatball on a fork... and, oddly enough, a photo of a woman's calves...


[Definitely click to go big]

The rent is available upon request. You may visit the PDF here for the different layout possibilities for the space.

Also, someone has finally discarded the half of a roll, half of a bagel and dead pigeon that were in the former Chase lobby.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Chase space on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place is for rent

2 East Village Chase Bank branches are closing for good on Nov. 12

Chase branch on 2nd Avenue at St. Mark's Place has the potential to get 4x larger with new owner

The East Village is down 2 Chase branches

Icon wraps former Chase branch at St. Mark's Place with retail ribbon

Noted

From the EVG inbox...

I felt it was worth mentioning that the vacant Chase branch on Avenue A and 2nd Street is now home to a half of a roll, a half of a bagel and a dead pigeon. It's anybody's guess whether the three are related but I suspect fowl play. (It's probably inappropriate to pun in the face of death but that one kind of fell into my lap).

'Good riddance' Chase, and — a development to watch in 2016

The Chase branch at 130 Second Ave. and St. Mark's Place closed back on Nov. 13, consolidating with the branch two blocks to the north.

This past weekend someone took notice to this development...


[Photo by Steven]

Had we actually got around to doing one... this would have made some kind of "developments to watch in 2016" listicle or something. To recap! The retail space via Icon Realty has been on the market, with an asking price of $72,000 a month... the listing notes the address is acceptable for "General Retail Use, Restaurants/Bar, Office Space, Gyms/Fitness Centers."

As previously reported,, the former Chase space allows for redevelopment of the current 2,380-square-foot site into a mixed-use retail and residential project of 9,520 square feet.


[Photo from December by Steven]

A few EVG regulars figure we'll be in for a few extra floors here one of these days...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Chase space on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place is for rent

2 East Village Chase Bank branches are closing for good on Nov. 12

Chase branch on 2nd Avenue at St. Mark's Place has the potential to get 4x larger with new owner

The East Village is down 2 Chase branches

Icon wraps former Chase branch at St. Mark's Place with retail ribbon

Icon wraps former Chase branch at St. Mark's Place with retail ribbon

It's now a little more obvious that the now-closed Chase branch on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place is for rent.

The retail ribbon has arrived on the property via Icon Realty. The retail space has been on the market, with an asking price of $72,000 a month, per the listing, which notes the address is acceptable for "General Retail Use, Restaurants/Bar, Office Space, Gyms/Fitness Centers."

As the Commercial Observer first reported back in August, J.P. Morgan Chase sold the 2-level space to Stellar Management for $12 million. (Stellar and Icon teamed up to buy the gas-challenged No. 128 next door.)

The former Chase site allows for redevelopment of the 2,380-square-foot site into a mixed-use retail and residential project of 9,520 square feet, the Observer noted.

The branch here at 130 Second Ave. closed after Nov. 12 and consolidated with the location two blocks to the north at No. 156.



Photos by EVG correspondent Steven

Previously on EV Grieve:
Chase space on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place is for rent

The retail space at 20 Avenue A is on the market

2 East Village Chase Bank branches are closing for good on Nov. 12

Chase branch on 2nd Avenue at St. Mark's Place has the potential to get 4x larger with new owner

The East Village is down 2 Chase branches

The East Village is down 2 Chase branches

[Photo montage from like August]

As we noted back in August, the Chase branch on Avenue A at East Second Street and the location on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place would close after business on Nov. 12.

So, uh, being Nov. 13, those branches are now closed...


[Photo by EVG Chase Branch correspondent Steven]

According to Chase, the branch at 130 Second Ave. will consolidate with the location two blocks to the north at No. 156 while the Avenue A outlet will merge with the branch at 106 Delancey.

The Chase at 156 Second Ave. recently renovated the lobby, adding new ATMs and decorative lighting...




[Photos by EVG Chase Branch correspondent Steven]

The asking rent on the Second Avenue Chase space is $72,000 a month, per the Icon Realty listing. The rent is available upon request for the Avenue A storefront.

Feel free to leave your favorite memories of these Chase branches in the comments.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Chase space on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place is for rent

The retail space at 20 Avenue A is on the market

2 East Village Chase Bank branches are closing for good on Nov. 12