Those Starbucks rumors continue to percolate on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place

[Photo from October]

Back in the fall, an EVG reader told us a worker was upgrading the electricity at 131 Avenue A ... because he said a Starbucks was going to be renting the former Nino's and Hop Devil Grill spaces on Avenue A at St. Mark's Place.

Meanwhile, last week, an Avenue A business owner asked us if we heard about a Starbucks opening on Avenue A. Now the rumor continues to pick up steam, as The Villager cites an unnamed source who tells the weekly paper: "I would say it’s a 90 percent certainty that Starbucks will be in the space."

Last fall, a tipster shared the flyer in circulation for the property...



At the time, a source with knowledge of the asking rent said that the corner space was seeking $15,020 per month and the inline storefront was going for $42,072 per month. The landlord was asking $52,000 for the combined spaces.

So far, there isn't any other evidence that this space has a tenant just yet. And Starbucks has been a handy rumored tenant in recent years ... for the corner of Avenue A and 11th Street and Avenue B and Fourth Street ... the contractor who said that a Starbucks was coming to First Avenue and 13th Street turned out to be correct, though.

James Morrissey, who owns The Late Late on East Houston and now VNYL on Third Avenue, had been after the spaces to create The Honey Fitz, a bar-diner-restaurant-cafe-networking space. Those plans never materialized early last year.


[Photo from yesterday]

To recap, Nino's closed in October 2015. As previously reported, owner Nino Camaj accepted a low six-figure amount to walk away from his remaining 10-year lease and surrender the pizza shop that he opened in 1989. He had been in a dispute with the landlord over back rent and a closure due to a gas leak in the building. Hop Devil Grill and its sister bar next door, The Belgian Room, were seized by the state in April 2015 for nonpayment of taxes.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A look at the retail listing for the northwest corner of A and St. Mark's Place

The former spaces for Nino's and Hop Devil Grill have been combined

A look at the retail listing for the northwest corner of A and St. Mark's Place

[Photo from Saturday]

A follow-up to the post yesterday about the combined ex-Nino's and Hop Devil Grill spaces on Avenue A at St. Mark's Place.

A tipster shared the flyer in circulation for the property...



As we understand it, the spaces are very much still on the market. No word on the asking rent. All uses and divisions will be considered.

Meanwhile, a reader left this in the comments yesterday:

I live in the building above it. Last week I spoke to a worker fixing electricity in the building who told me they are upgrading the electrical system because a STARBUCKS is going in...

Aside from this claim from a worker, there isn't any other evidence that this space has any retail tenant. And Starbucks has been a handy rumored tenant in recent years ... for the corner of Avenue A and 11th Street and Avenue B and Fourth Street ... the contractor who said that a Starbucks was coming to First Avenue and 13th Street turned out to be correct, though.

The former spaces for Nino's and Hop Devil Grill have been combined

In recent weeks the former Nino's Pizza storefront on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place has been blanketed in graffiti... making it difficult to see what might be going on inside the vacant space. (Not to mention the brown paper.)

The other day a worker wiped away part of the tags, offering a view of the interior...


[From St. Mark's looking north]


[From A looking to the west]

The wall separating the former Hop Devil Grill at 129 St. Mark's Place has been removed, creating one big(ger) space...



There are work permits, dated Oct. 14, on file with the DOB for "interior demo."

No word if there's a tenant for the space or if the landlord is just giving it the vanilla box treatment to show potential tenants.

James Morrissey, who owns The Late Late on East Houston and now VNYL on Third Avenue, had been after the spaces to create The Honey Fitz. Those plans were put on hold, though Morrissey told DNAinfo back in February the he "remains interested in the location, assuming all outstanding lease issues have been resolved."

A for rent sign (which arrived back in April) is barely visible now at the Nino's space...



Nino's closed in October 2015. As previously reported, owner Nino Camaj accepted a low six-figure amount to walk away from his remaining 10-year lease and surrender the pizza shop that he opened in 1989. He had been in a dispute with the landlord over back rent and a closure due to a gas leak in the building.

Hop Devil Grill and its sister bar next door, The Belgian Room, were seized by the state in April 2015 for nonpayment of taxes.

The former Nino's is for rent on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place

The for rent signs arrived Friday at the former pizzeria here on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place...



The listing isn't live just yet at the Jonis Realty site.

Perhaps then this means that the proposed cocktail bar-restaurant-grab-and-go-breakfast-place-co-working-freelance space The Honey Fitz is no longer in the works.

As you may recall, the proprietors, James Morrissey (The Late Late on East Houston) and Gerard McNamee (GM of Webster Hall), wanted to combine the empty Hop Devil Grill with Nino's for one large Honey Fitz. However, facing opposition from CB3 during the February SLA committee meeting, the proprietors withdrew their proposal. (BoweryBoogie covered the meeting here.)

The former Hop Devil space remains open... literally...



Maybe the Honey Fitz can work from just this space.

As for Nino's. The pizzeria had to close on Oct. 21 due to a gas leak in the building. On Nov. 17, Nino's received an eviction notice. Owner Nino Camaj had said that the gas was shut off in the building without any notice to him. In late November, Camaj's lawyers were reportedly in discussion with landlord Citi Urban Management to dispute the rent charged for the month during which they had to close due to the gas leak. Camaj still has 10 years left on his lease, and had been in court with the landlords.

But before the February CB3-SLA meeting, word came out that Camaj had accepted a low six-figure amount to walk away from his lease and surrender the space. The kitchen equipment was auctioned off on Feb. 22.

Nino's opened in 1989. (Nino sold the business in 2012, which produced a short-lived pizzeria. He returned and reopened Nino's in July 2013.)

Camaj told DNAinfo in February that he could no longer afford the $14,500 monthly rent. Camaj said that the rent for the corner space was $3,500 when he first opened.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Honey Fitz in the works for St. Mark's Place and Avenue A (54 comments)

Gas leak closes Nino's for now

Nino's and Yoshi Sushi served with eviction notices on Avenue A

Encouraging signs at Nino's

Report: The Honey Fitz on hold; and RIP Nino's

Selling off Nino's

For lease signs arrive on the former Belgian Room and Hop Devil Grill spaces

[A few weeks ago]

A few weeks ago, we noticed that workers removed the wall that separated the former Ton-Up Cafe and Belgian Room on St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue.

Some St. Mark's Place empty storefront watchers thought this work might indicate a new tenant was on the way in…

Apparently not. For lease signs arrived on the spaces yesterday… as well as on the adjacent Hop Devil Grill front door…



This is the first time that we've seen any for lease signs on the Belgian Room and Hop Devil Grill since the State of New York seized the sister bars back in April. The Ton-Up space at No. 127 has been empty since May 2014. (The for lease sign here arrived, before disappearing, last October.)

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Belgian Room and Hop Devil Grill closed for nonpayment of taxes

Selling off the former Hop Devil Grill

Sitting empty on St. Mark's Place

Sitting empty on St. Mark's Place

While there has been a taker for the former Luca Bar, the spaces that housed its neighbors on St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue remain empty.

Back in April, the State of New York seized sister bars the Belgian Room and Hop Devil Grill. The Ton-Up space at No. 127 has been empty since May 2014.

We looked inside the other day and noticed that someone removed the wall that separated the Ton-Up space...



... and the Belgian Room... to perhaps make for a larger bar-restaurant concept some day...



We haven't spotted any for rent signs on either the Belgian Room or Hop Devil Grill. And there aren't any work permits on file with the DOB to suggest any incoming new business.

And some equal time to the ex-Hop Devil Grill ...



Previously on EV Grieve:
The Belgian Room and Hop Devil Grill closed for nonpayment of taxes

Selling off the former Hop Devil Grill

Selling off the former Hop Devil Grill

In early April, the State of New York seized sister bars the Belgian Room and Hop Devil Grill on St. Mark's Place near Avenue A.

The bars will not be reopening. There's now a sign up on Hop Devil's front door, noting a Tax Compliance Agent's Sale on Thursday morning here at 125 St. Mark's Place…



There is not a sign up at the Belgian Room. (There is a flyer up next door at the former Ton-Up Cafe, the space that separates Hop Devil and the Belgian Room. Ton-Up has been on the market since the fall. Likely just some overzealous sign hanging on behalf of the State.)



Meanwhile, there still isn't any sign of life a storefront away at the Luca Bar. A Marshal's notice appeared on the door at 119 St. Mark's Place in late April.



Looking in, it appears that part of Luca's ceiling came down…



… and there's some mail too…



So that's four spaces among five storefronts here on the north side of St. Mark's primed for new businesses …

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Belgian Room and Hop Devil Grill closed for nonpayment of taxes

The Marshal seizes Luca Bar (again) on St. Mark's Place

The Belgian Room and Hop Devil Grill closed for nonpayment of taxes

The state's fluorescent SEIZED sticker arrived today at sister bars The Belgian Room and Hop Devil Grill on St. Mark's Place near Avenue A …



There isn't any other information about the situation at the moment…



So, for now, the two spaces remain closed. (These seizures aren't always permanent, as we saw at Sahara East, among other businesses.)

Hop Devil Grill/The Belgian Room closed now on Mondays; lack of football blamed

[Photo by Derek Berg]

The sister bars here on St Mark's Place just west of Avenue A have cut back on their days open.

As the sign on the door notes, the bars will be closed on Mondays for the foreseeable future.

"Like many restaurants in our neighborhood, it sometimes gets a little quiet on Mondays after the football season ends."

The note goes on to say something about staying in and ordering mediocre Chinese food. (Maybe try Hot Kitchen?)

Hop Devil Grill says to have some Respect here on St. Mark's Place

[Click on image for a better read]

An EVG reader points us to an Urban Etiquette Sign on the door at Hop Devil Grill at 129 St. Mark's Place near Avenue A.

It reads in part:

Keep your voices down, keep your drinks inside, and in general treat this sidewalk like your mom's porch.

The people who live above your head have lived here for many years and deserve to enjoy peace and quiet while we all enjoy our party.

When you disrespect the tenants of this building you disrespect our business, our employees, and our neighborhood.

Have some common decency and keep yourself under control while outside the building.

We love you and want you to have a blast. Just do us a favor and do it in a way that doesn't ruin the night of the people who make this neighborhood awesome.

[Updated] Hop Devil Grill and The Belgian Room closed for now on St. Mark's Place

We noticed the NYPD signage outside the two bars on St. Mark's Place this morning…



The signs note a "violation of Alcohol Control Law."



No mention of the closure on the respective bars' social media properties.

As of tonight, bar places remain closed.



Updated 11-22

Both bars are back open.

[Updated] DOH temporarily closes Hop Devil Grill and the Belgian Room

DOH inspectors came calling on St. Mark's Place Friday… and both the Belgian Room …



… and Hop Devil Grill were temporarily closed for the weekend for unspecified violations (the reports were not online just yet)…



Both spaces have signs on the door noting they are closed "due to electrical issues."


[Photo by Ted Roden]

There isn't any mention of the closures on either bar's website or social media accounts.

Meanwhile, Ton-Up Cafe, which is between The Belgian Room and Hop Devil Grill, is also closed…



Not much info on the sign on the door…



The cafe opened in April 2013 … and serves paninis named in honor of Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry and Elvis.

One of the owners here also operates Falanghina, the pizzeria which remains open at the former Whole Earth Bakery across the street.

Updated 5-13

The Belgian Room and Hop Devil Grill are BACK open.

Belgian place now Latin

I've lost track of the changes that took place in the conversion from Hop Devil Grill to Hop Devil Lounge last December. Also affected in all this: The companion bar
next door, the Belgian Room.

Anyway, the Belgian Room is now the Latin Bar Lounge.



On St. Mark's near Avenue A.

Hop Devil Lounge vs. Hop Devil Grill

As you probably know, the owners of the Hop Devil Grill on St. Mark's near Avenue A remodeled the joint to rebrand as the Southwestern themed...Hop Devil Lounge. The Hop Devil redux opened on Dec. 3. Been meaning to stop by, sort of, purely for research reasons. But I did pick up the new menu! Which I compared to the old menu...which leads me to think...



...they cut back on their clip-art budget.

So, anyway -- there's a Southwestern theme...and burgers. And lots of beer.

Old Hop Devil Grill to reopen today with a Southwestern flavor

The former Hop Devil Grill will reopen today, at least according to the sign on the front of the bar on St. Mark's Place near Avenue A....and their Web site:

Hey everyone, we'll be closed until December 3rd due to some renovations we are doing. As you know, or in case you didn't, we feature Southwestern cuisine on our menu, and so we are taking a little time to make our place a little more southwestern. Same excellent beer, sangria, margaritas and fine tequila. We'll see you in a couple of weeks. Happy Thanksgiving from everyone at Hop Devil Grill.

Yesterday, workers were busy putting the final fixins' on the exterior.





I took a quick gander inside...and saw the many taps still lined up along the wall...

Previously on EV Grieve:
RIP Hop Devil Grill

Lordy, he's STILL talking about the Hop Devil Grill

OK, OK...just a point of clarification after a conversation about the Hop Devil Grill closing with a friend. The Belgian Room, an extension of Hop Devil Grill at 125 St. Mark's Place, also closed. All part of the same deal: Will reopen on Dec. 3 with a new concept, management, etc.

RIP Hop Devil Grill

The Hop Devil Grill on St. Mark's near Avenue A is gone. Was way too bland and fratty for our liking, but they had some tasty suds on tap -- 31 or so on a rotating basis.



Looks like it will reopen....and be completely different. New concept? Why does this give us the fear?



They were shut down in February for allegedly serving minors; in July, they were reportedly denied a liquor license renewal due to prior violations for selling to minors.

P.S.
The Hop Devil Grill Web site was still up and running as of last night.

P.S.S.
Thanks to Jeremiah for reminding me in the comments that this space used to be Stingy Lulu's, which was there 1992 to, what, 2004? Hop Devil opened in March 2005.