Today in Auction Today photos on the Bowery

Somebody needs to keep the Bowery classy.

Photos by Derek Berg

A look at the Bowery before it becomes 'one golden strip'

Catching up to this from The Commercial Observer last week... where Billy Gray got "tour" of RKF's properties for lease/sale on the Bowery.

Per RKF Executive Vice President Ariel Schuster: the Bowery will soon be "one golden strip."

And it's well on it's way.

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And you can expect more changes in the aftermath of that $62 million deal earlier this summer for 11 mixed-use buildings on the Bowery between Canal and Houston... not to mention the sale of 347 Bowery.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A quick Bowery retail inventory

Intermix arrives on the Bowery

Retail space at historic 330 Bowery now on the market

Buying up the Bowery

Nearly 4 years later, sidewalk bridge removed from 338 Bowery

Wow. Something seems awfully strange walking on the west side of the Bowery between Bond and Great Jones... Sunlight! On the sidewalk! (Is that a song? — "Sunlight on the Sidewalk.")

The sidewalk bridge first arrived outside the Whitehouse at 338 Bowery in September 2009 for, according to permits, "emergency repairs." Nearly four years later, those emergency repairs must have finally been completed!

The sidewalk bridge even predates the Subway that opened in the former Downtown Music space next door ... the thing even prevented the Subwayers from finishing the paint job outside...



Perhaps it was the Subway manager who complained in December 2009 that he/she could not put up a business sign because of the sidewalk shed...

Not that the sidewalk bridge prevented Subway from advertising out front...




As for the Whitehouse Hotel, the hostel/flophouse combo that was barely hanging on and retaining some of the Bowery edge of yore, it appears safe... developer Sam Chang wanted to build a nine-story hotel on the carcass ... but those plans never materialized ... and the Whitehouse hung on, and after $100,000 of glammed up improvements and renovations, reopened as the Bowery's Whitehouse Hotel and Hostel of New York in January 2011.

And now they have their sidewalk and sunshine (and rain) back.

Meanwhile, on the Bowery...

Photos by Bobby Williams

Random new bench randomly arrives on East Houston and the Bowery

[Bobby Williams]

Swear that this wasn't here on Tuesday... anyway! Perfect for sitting and watching diners on the DBGB sidewalk cafe ... or taking in the ongoing Bowery/East Houston Street reconstruction project. Not sure which one is more fun!

[Updated] Buying up the Bowery

Eleven mixed-use buildings on the Bowery between Canal and Houston were bought by an investor group for $62 million, The Wall Street Journal reported today. (Didn't spot the story online just yet. Read the brief here.)

The tenants include Pulino's "and a smattering of Chinese good stores." A Massey Knakal rep says that a lot of the tenants have leases expiring in the next few years ...

A family trust sold the portfolio to a group led by Joseph Betesh, whose family owns the Dr. Jays hip-hop clothing stores.

Douglas Elliman's Faith Hope Consolo says that the Bowery "is the place to be." She notes that current rents are $175 to $200 a square foot now... and if the lux boom continues along here, she predicts they will hit $325 in the next five years.

Updated 2 p.m.

A few more details from a Massey Knakal news release:

The properties are located at 83, 85, 88, 103, 105, 219, 221, 262, 276, 280, and 284 Bowery. The buildings total approximately 143,230 above grade square feet with all air-rights intact. The properties are not contiguous, but nine of the 11 buildings are paired with an adjacent property, excellently located between Houston and Canal Streets.

These properties have been family owned since the 1930s which presented a rare opportunity for Milestone Equities to acquire a portfolio with tremendous upside.

[Random Bowery storefront photo from 2012]

Crunch announces itself to the Bowery

As we first reported on May 31, Crunch is moving from its current home on Lafayette Street to the Bowery and East Fourth Street — specifically the retail space at 2 Cooper Square... The storefronts here have been vacant since the apartments hit the market in 2009 ...



And in other gym news... Crossfit East River opens today on East Ninth Street near Avenue C.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Crunch moving to the Bowery; CB3 OKs New York Sports Club on Avenue A

Intermix arrives on the Bowery

Steve's on the Bowery closed back in September... the deli lost their lease... Previously, BoweryBoogie had the scoop that the Intermix brand was taking over the Steve's space. The company describes itself as a "fashion boutique for trendsetters, A-Listers and glam fashionistas."

Well, Intermix has arrived... it opens today, per Racked.



And up on the right-hand sign there's a message that this is a "temporary storefront sign."

A little now and then:



Previously on EV Grieve:
Steve's on the Bowery has closed, more 'glam fashionistas' on the way

Steve's on the Bowery is for lease

Rebranding Bowery and Bond

[EVG file photo]

The storefront on the southwest corner of Bond and the Bowery has sat empty since the Washington Mutual closed up in March 2009 ... the space has gone though an assortment of brokers...

Previously, the space was "the new intersection of cool."


It was also a photogenic intersection for Bringing it On...


And most recently — a pitstop for Claire Forlani's disembodied scotch ad hands...

Now, there's a new listing at RKF for the corner space... say hello to "the new 328 Bowery ... where Bowery meets Bond" ...



...and your upscale neighbors...



No word on asking rents. The listing does note that an "all new storefront [will] be delivered Summer 2013."

Meanwhile, last call for our Bowery-Bond nickname to take off — BowBo.

Noted

Spotted on the Bowery.

Something fishy at the former CBGB Gallery on the Bowery

Someone asked what the deal was with that plywood at 313 Bowery... workers erected and painted it this past week... The recent home to the Morrison Hotel Gallery and the Steven Tyler pop-up shop Riff (and once, the CBGB Gallery) will become the first East Coast Patagonia Surf Store, as BoweryBoogie has previously reported.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A quick Bowery retail inventory

Prepping for Cheap Trick on the Bowery

This morning around 9, the first truck rolled up to the John Varvatos store on the Bowery... to start preparing for tonight's Cheap Trick show ... where the band is celebrating the 35th anniversary of "At Budokan."

This area promises to get a lot more active as the day progresses... the NYPD already posted No Parking signs... so move that cart.



Deluxe boxset tickets were going for $500 tonight.

The Bowery just got a little more bland

Nearly two years ago, CB3's Transportation & Public Safety/Environment Committee OK'd an application for a new newsstand for the Bowery at East Second Street...

Anyway, the characterless little box arrived last week, as BoweryBoogie noted.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Newsstand in the works for the Bowery and Second Street

Seeing double on the Bowery

At East Fourth Street. Make sense?

And at least someone finally replaced this ad.

Memory of terrible movie continues to haunt the Bowery

Tonight, as Hollywood honors the alleged best movies of 2012... a moment to note that the billboard for "Playing for Keeps" is still up on the Bowery at East Fourth Street. The movie opened Dec. 7. By now, it's likely playing on TNT. Despite an outpouring of 311 calls from distracted residents and motorists who complain of Gerard Butler's hair and what appear to be smiles from a denture commercial, the ad remains...



There's a 4 percent approval rating from critics at Rotten Tomatoes, who describe it this way: "Witless, unfocused, and arguably misogynistic, Playing for Keeps is a dispiriting, lowest-common-denominator Hollywood rom-com."

The Daily News is the latest media outlet to discover that the Bowery is pretty nice and stuff these days

[EVG file photo]

There's an advertorial article at the Daily News today titled "From Skid Row to celebrity hangout — the Bowery cashes in."

Ultimately, it's about the new 250 Bowery condo, "where Paul Simon and Scarlett Johansson have looked at apartments." (Also, per the Post last month, Shaun White.)

Here are the best lines from the piece:

• The drunks are still there — only now they drive Bentleys, wear Prada and date supermodels.

• "This is not the Bowery of 20 years ago when we ... stepped over the homeless," said broker John Gomes

• "It has grit — and artsy people with good taste aren’t afraid of that," [250 Bowery developer Zach] Vella said.

• "The Bowery could be the Park Ave. of downtown someday," said Oren Alexander, 25, of Douglas Elliman.

Voting is now open for the best line...

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Post declares that the Bowery is 'out' for 2011

Page Six Magazine says the Bowery calls to mind "an L.A. vibe"

On no...no no! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Olde Good things opening on the new Bowery

On Wednesday night, we spotted this outside 302 Bowery, which most recently served as a boutique for designer Patricia Field...

The storefront had been for rent since last March. Asking price: $30,000. There is now a new tenant...

It will be another location of Olde Good Things, which boasts having "one of the largest inventories of unique and antique architectural items." There are currently Olde Good shops on the Upper West Side, Union Square as well as in Chelsea.

Joanne Klein, who had been looking for a tenant here, confirmed the news. "Their style works well with the neighborhood too," she said.

Last May, Field moved to her newly renovated showroom space at 306 Bowery/298 Elizabeth.

Previously on EV Grieve:
More details on renting the Patricia Field boutique space on the Bowery

Whatever happened to that really ugly hotel planned for the Bowery?

Mystery Building Week continues. (See here and here for previous installments.)

The Salvation Army's East Village Residence closed here at the Bowery and East Third Street in August 2008. (Find some history of the space here.)

[February 2011, of course, because it doesn't snow here anymore]

And all was quiet for a few years. Until Jan. 11, 2011, when Lois Weiss at the Post reported that the France-based Louzon Group had bought the building and were planning on opening a new hotel here. Across the way from the Bowery Hotel. And two blocks from the then-Cooper Square Hotel (now the Standard East Village). Not to mention the rebranded Whitehouse Hotel and Hostel across the street. And close enough to the 569 hotels planned for the Lower East Side.

Remember the first rendering?

[Via Curbed]

Then! The next rendering! Keep in mind: This is not a joke.

[Via the Observer]

And yes — that's a Jumbotron up there.

As you'll recall, the reaction was... brutal? My favorite comment, via the EV Grieve Facebook page, came from Luc Sante:

It would be cheaper and more useful just to blow up the building and leave a 30-foot crater.

Anyway! Two years later, there's no sign of this hotel. (Which is a very good thing...) There's nothing on file for the property with the DOB. No demolition permits in the works. Nothing.

Did the Louzon Group changed its mind? They paid $7.6 million for the property. Anyone know what's going on with the space? Let us know via the EV Grieve email.

[Image created by Shawn Chittle]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reactions to new Bowery hotel: 'It would be cheaper and more useful just to blow up the building and leave a 30-foot crater'

Why do the French hate us?

When we shot turkeys on the Bowery for Christmas

Per the description at the New York Public Library Digital Galleries:

A Christmas "turkey-shoot" on the Bowery. (1897)

Happy holidays to you... and whatever your traditions are...

On the Bowery: CBGB and its impact on the visual arts and downtown nightlife

There's an interesting talk set for tomorrow night at the New Museum on the Bowery titled "Parallel Lines: Visual Art, CBGB, and Downtown Nightlife."

Here's a blurb about it:

A panel discussion about the impact of CBGB and the downtown club scene on the visual arts from 1975-1985. The participants are John Holmstrom, Pat Place, Marcia Resnick and Arturo Vega.

Marc H. Miller is serving as the moderator. We asked him to recall his first visit to CBGB, circa 1976:

"When I first walked into CBGB, I was surprised to see so many visual artists that I knew from Soho and Tribeca. Some were in bands, others had friends in bands and helped out by making posters and stuff, some took photographs, most just hung out. The funny thing was that nobody wanted to be called an artist. The art world seemed phony and pretentious at the time. The favorite word was “boring.” People were looking for action, for something real, for something that actually had an audience. The music scene provided an opening."

The panel is part of the ongoing "Come Closer: Art Around the Bowery, 1969–1989" exhibit that runs through Jan. 6. (Tickets for the discussion are $8.)

And because I've only posted this video of one of my favorite songs 12-13 times on this site ... here we have the Bush Tetras, with Pat Place, on the Bowery...



[Image via Marc H. Miller]