Report: Wagamama coming to 55 3rd Ave.; M2M to depart?

[EVG file photo]

The second Manhattan location of Wagamama, the London-based chain of Japanese restaurants, is reportedly coming to a retail space at 55 Third Ave., aka Eleventh and Third, the 12-floor building that recently went through a top-to-bottom luxury renovation.

Per the Commercial Observer, who first reported the deal:

The popular Japanese-inspired Wagamama has taken 3,150 square feet at grade and 2,000 square feet for storage in the basement in the East Village at 55 Third Avenue at the corner of East 11th Street, according to sources with knowledge of the deal. The lease is for 15 years and the asking rent was $250 per square foot.

No 55, which is between 10th Street and 11th Street, is currently home to two retail tenants: M2M, the Asian grocery chain, and The Smith. Reps for both businesses said that they were not closing, as Gothamist reported. (The Observer article didn't mention which business would be departing.)

In 2014, these commercial spaces hit the market for $25.5 million. The listing at the time noted that M2M's lease was up in 2017 (The Smith's lease is through 2027.) The listing also noted this:

The plans call for the existing lobby space to be moved further east along 11th Street which will allow the current lobby to be incorporated into the corner retail space upon vacancy, thus increasing the most valuable Third Avenue ground floor retail footage by approximately 1,314 square feet. Upon M2M vacating and the implementation of the proposed strategy, there is potential to instantly double the asset’s net operating income.

The other Wagamama, which serves Japanese comfort foods including several types of ramen, will open on Fifth Avenue between 25th Street and 26th Street.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Someone actually paid $57 million for this East Village building

Reimagining this 12-story East Village building, now on the market

NY Copy & Printing forced out of longtime E. 11th St. home, opening second location on E. 7th St.

Eleventh and Third indulges in some nonsensical branding

Rebranded 'Eleventh and Third' will have rentals upwards of $10k

Retail space housing The Smith and M2M asking $25.5 million on 3rd Avenue

Luxurified 55 3rd Ave. now on the market for $65 million

215 E. 12th St. is available for $16 million

The townhouse on East 12th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue arrived on the market yesterday.

Here's part of the listing via Sloane Square NYC:

Sensational, Chic & Unique 4-Story 25 foot wide Townhouse with oversized 1,100 sqft Garden on a beautiful East Village block. It is a Single Family House with approximately 5,000 sqft (approx.), and Oversized Garden and 5,000 sqft FAR +/-. This amazing 14 Room Townhouse features 8 Bedrooms, 5 Bathrooms including Master Bedroom Suite with a Dressing Room and large Sitting Area. The ceilings soar to 13.5ft. The oversized floor to ceiling windows, plus dramatic skylight add style. Beautiful original details add drama to this gorgeous Townhouse. Extraordinary light throughout!

Please note: Separate Income Producing 3 Room Apt – easily integrated into Townhouse.

Perfectly located in the East Village, which is one of the hottest areas in New York City filled with great nightlife, a vibrant art scene and incredible restaurants. This area of Manhattan is filled with luxury Condominiums and beautiful Townhouses.

Asking price: $16 million.

Public records show that the home last changed hands for $4.3 million in 2007. The New York Times featured the home and its owner, an original partner in the Kate Spade brand, back in July 2008.

Report: 14-story building planned for 827 Broadway

This past Friday, reps for Caerus Group and Quality Capital filed plans for a 14-story, 70,000-square-foot retail-and-office building at 827 Broadway, as The Real Deal reported.

Per the article:

Retail will span the first three floors of the building, with the remaining 11 floors devoted to office space. The plans call for terraces on the fourth floor and roof — an amenity many landlords in the Midtown South market consider a necessity in order to attract tenants.

According to DOB records, there were plans filed in December for a "10-story vertical enlargement ... to existing 4-story building." Now there are just plans for a new building.

So apparently this means the two existing four-story buildings between 12th Street and 13th Street will be demolished. There aren't any demo permits on file yet.

Quality Capital and Caerus Group bought 827-829 and 831 Broadway last summer for $60 million. The deal reportedly included 30,000 square feet of air rights.

Antiques mogul Howard Kaplan previously owned the buildings for 35 years.

Here's some history of the buildings:

Italiante commercial building built by tobacconist Pierre Lorillard III (1796-1867) on property owned by the family until 1940. Lorillard was grandson of Pierre Abraham Lorillard (1742–1776), founder of the American tobacco industry with 1760 launch of P. Lorillard & Co. In 1867, No. 827 was shop of cabinetmaker Alexander Roux (1813-1886). From 1980s until 2008 was a club, La Belle Epoque.

Cox statue cleaning today in Tompkins Square Park

Time to clean the statue in honor of Samuel S. Cox, whose career included being United States Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.

Also, as you may know:

He was a backer of the Life Saving Service, later merged into the United States Coast Guard. He was also known as the "letter carriers' friend" because of his support for paid benefits and a 40-hour work week for U.S. Post Office employees. In gratitude, postal workers raised $10,000 in 1891 to erect a statue to Cox in Tompkins Square Park in New York.

Photo by Bobby Willaims

June 14

EVG reader Susan spotted this tonight on East Fifth Street... we aren't disclosing the cross Avenues because we are heading over now to claim it for ourselves — plenty of green left on it for December!

Sweet Generation selling rainbow cupcakes for Equality Florida

Our hearts are with Orlando and the LGBTQ community. We will be selling rainbow cupcakes to raise money for the families of the victims. All proceeds will be donated to Equality Florida. @equalityfl #LoveIsLoveIsLove #WeAreOrlando #EqualityFlorida #sweetgeneration

A photo posted by Sweet Generation (@swtgeneration) on Jun 13, 2016 at 8:49pm PDT

Sweet Generation is at 130 First Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Seventh Street. The store is open until 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday; until 9 p.m. on Friday and 10 p.m. on Saturday.

Gothamist has photos from last night's vigil at the Stonewall Inn here.

After 15 years, Artikal is closing on 12th Street

Tomorrow is the last day in business for the 15-year-old Artikal Handcrafted Millinery at 510 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

The building is part of the East Village portfolio that Raphael Toledano bought last fall.

"They refused to even offer me a lease renewal," Artikal owner Holly Slayton said via email. "I am looking for a new location close to my house. I am a single mom so my location two doors away is ideal."

So far, Slayton said that she hasn't had any success finding a new space.

Slayton is also a resident of another Toledano-owner building, the first one that was reportedly inspected for high levels of lead dust.

She says that she has been working with local elected officials and community groups on measures to help protect small businesses against "predatory landlords."

Other businesses to close or relocate from Toledano-owned buildings include Podunk - the American Tearoom on East Fifth Street and Hakata Hot Pot and Sushi Lounge, which split space on St. Mark's Place.

Workers clearing out the mysterious 84 2nd Ave. storefront

Several EVG readers yesterday alerted us to some dumpster action outside 84 Second Ave. between Fifth Street and Fourth Street.

Mr. Baggs spotted workers removing misc. items from the long-empty storefront...





Here's a cut-n-paste from a previous post about this address, which has prompted some mystery through the years:

In February 2009, a man who said that he lived and worked nearby for years told Jill the following about the building:

It used to be a place that sold tuxedos and formal wear. The family had several children, but one of them, a daughter, was raped and murdered in the top floor, possibly in the 1940's [note: it was actually 1974].

The killer was never found. The children (or one of them and a spouse?) still live there and refuse to renovate or change anything. The top floor is exactly the way it was when the daughter was murdered and you can still see the powder where the cops dusted for fingerprints. This man had been inside once and was witness to its originality. He said they have no intention of selling or changing or even of renting out the storefront.

The name of the family is Sopolsky.

This is from The New York Times, dated Jan. 18, 1974:

The nude body of a 40-year-old woman propietor of a tailor shop that rents tuxedos on the Lower East Side was found bludgeoned to death. The victim was Helen Sopolsky of 84 Second Avenue, near fifth Street, whose shop is one flight up at that address. The motive of the attack was not determined immediately...."

Here's more history of 84 via Lost City from February 2012:

It was a temporary home for women in 1884, open to "self-supporting homeless young women, with or without a child." Morris Kosturk, 40, was found dead there in 1921. And Aaron Schneider, who lived here in 1964, was the victim of a hit and run driver.

For years (decades?), you could see a plastic-covered dinner jacket in the second-story window with the neon sign that reads "DRESS SUITS TO HIRE."

[Photo by Jeremiah Moss]

Here are more photos from yesterday via EVG reader Paul Dougherty...





One of the workers yesterday told EVG correspondent Steven that the woman who had lived in the building (and the owner of it) was taken to a nursing home several months ago.

The worker was unsure what was going to happen to the space. There aren't any work permits on file with the DOB for the address. And public records show that building is still in possession of the Sopolsky family...


[Photo by Steven]

C & B Convenience Store has closed on 14th Street

The East 14th Street turnover continues... C & B Convenience Store at 248 E. 14th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue shut down last week...The Marshal came calling too...



After an apparent rent increase, Saving$ Paradise next door at No. 250 recently merged with IQ Decor a few storefronts to the west.

Taking bubble tea bets now.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Coming and going on East 14th Street

[Updated] Guaco Taco has not been open lately

Guaco Taco opened on Second Street, just east of First Avenue, on May 20.


[Photo from May 20]

However, the quick-serve restaurant hasn't been open of late... going back to the last two weekends. The owners haven't left any notes to potential customers about a temporary closure due to some unforeseen circumstance. (Perhaps they needed some additional permits?)

IF Guaco Taco is closed for good … then it will have the dubious honor of being one of the quickest openings-and-closings in recent memory. In 2011, an Italian restaurant called Tre Scalini closed after less than two weeks at 130 St. Mark's Place.

Updated 6/24

Guaco Loco is now back open...

Paper now adorns the windows at the temporarily closed Dahlia's

[Photo from May]

Dahlia's on Second Avenue at Fifth Street temporarily closed in early May while the State Liquor Authority decides their future booze fate.

Yesterday, EVG correspondent Steven noticed that the windows have been papered over...





No word just yet what might be happening to the space.

Back in February, the SLA temporarily suspended Dahlia's liquor license after serving a reported 50 minors one night.

According to the Post, officers from the 9th Precinct a half block away found the exits at Dahlia's locked "and more than 40 well-heeled teens — one only 15 years old — quaffing 'monster margaritas' and mojitos" one night in January.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Dahlia's busted after cops find 43 minors drinking inside locked restaurant

More about the underage drinking bust at Dahlia's; plus, reaction from NYU students

Today in Tompkins Square Pork

Photo by Bobby Williams

Updated 6/14

You can follow along @thecircumcisedpig on Instagram

Previously

The penthouse at 347 Bowery sells for $17 million (or somewhere in that $$$ ballpark)

It doesn't look like much now behind the construction netting, but 347 Bowery likely just set a price record for the Bowery.

The three-floor penthouse at the 13-story condoplex is in contract after three days on the market, Curbed first noted. The asking price had been $17 million. (That's just an estimated monthly moetgage payment of $80,673, per Streeteasy.)



The transaction hasn't hit public records yet, so it's unclear what the buyer actually paid for the penthouse. According to Curbed, the Bowery condo record was previously held by a penthouse at 250 Bowery, which closed for a paltry $5.5 million last year.

347 Bowery is rising at the former spot of the Salvation Army's East Village Residence at East Third Street.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Salvation Army's former East Village Residence will be demolished on the Bowery

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

Looks like 347 Bowery will be home to a 13-floor mixed-use residential development

The future of 347 Bowery (sorta!) revealed

Let's take a look at 347 Bowery, now and in the future

Report: Molly Ringwald's East 10th Street duplex is for sale

[Image via Streeteasy]

A two-bedroom, 1.5-bath co-op that actress-singer Molly Ringwald has owned for the past 12 years at 122 E. 10th St. is now on the market, the Observer reports.

Here are some excerpts via the listing (Robert Lewis of Weichert Properties has the listing and is showing the property):

Step back in time as you enter this gorgeous duplex penthouse in a James Renwick Jr. designed, 1861 Anglo-Italianate row house.

Celebrity owned and lovingly restored, 122 East 10th Street Apartment 4/5 belongs on the cover of "Architectural Digest". The living room is filled with original details, such as the 10' exposed beam ceilings, a pair of antique wooden windows, and a decorative marble mantel, which frames the first of two wood burning fireplaces. Walk through an arched hallway and there is a marble powder room (convertible to a full bath) and coat closet on the way to the chef's kitchen. Four south-facing windows in the kitchen create an ideal space to grow your own herbs.


[Image via Streeteasy]

It offers the best of both worlds: Historic and private townhouse living, with the safety and convenience of a co-op. Well worth the fourth floor walk up!

Asking price for the home between Second Avenue and Third Avenue: $1.795 million.

Ringwald, 48, who starred in motion pictures such as "The Breakfast Club" and "Pretty in Pink," primarily lives in Santa Monica with her husband and three children.

Her connection to the neighborhood reportedly spans 30 years, when she moved into the American Felt building at 114 E. 13th St. between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue at age 18.

Foundation looks set as 500 E. 14th St. finally shows some street-level progress

After some 13-months of post-demolition work at 500 E. 14th St., it appears as if the foundation is set here on the corner of Avenue A... as least that's what it looks like via the handy blogger portals in the plywood...





The pumps have been going 24/7 to dewater the property for Extell Development's two 7-floor retail-residential buildings. (A quick reminder: 500 E. 14th St. will have 106 residential units … while, further to the east, 524 E. 14th St. will house 44 residential units.)

As the developers at 432-438 E. 14th St. a block to the west have discovered, there are elevated groundwater levels and soft soil courtesy of an underground stream.

Anyway, Extell Lake seems to be a memory now at No. 500.



Previously on EV Grieve:
The disappearing storefronts of East 14th Street

[Updated with correction] 8-lot parcel of East 14th Street primed for new development

New 7-floor buildings for East 14th Street include 150 residential units

Meanwhile, Steiner East Village tells Avenue A to get in its belly

With a discussion of the new developments two blocks away at 500 and 524 E. 14th St. ... might as well look at the progress of developer Douglas Steiner's rather gargantuan condoplex at 438 E. 12th Street and along Avenue A to 11th Street... aka Steiner East Village...





... looks as if Stei Town might just swallow the corner buildings on 12th ...



To recap, the 7-story, 82-unit building features Steindos starting at $1.1 million... with the 4-bedroom Steinhouse with 1,364 square feet of terraces that's asking $11.25 million.

Steiner bought the former Mary Help of Christians property in 2012 from the Archdiocese of New York for $41 million.

Previously

Stubby cups and mini bubbles coming to East 14th Street (yes, more bubble tea)

PaTea is opening its second NYC location at 227 E. 14th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue... Per the signage: "The first Stubby Cup in the East Coast."



Here's more about the company:

[W]e are a family owned business and we strive to bring the authenticity of Taiwanese bubble tea to everyone.

The name “Patea” is from the concept of “It’s Party Time”. Our passion is to bring joy and a fun experience to all customers while experimenting on some of the newly innovated flavors.

The first PaTea opened at 135 Mott St. in 2013.

The previous tenant here, a mobile phone business, came and went very quickly.

Meanwhile, directly across 14th Street, the sign is now up for the incoming Pink Bear Ice Cream, which specializes in rolled ice cream...



Also directly across the street, another bubble tea shop.

Melt Shop bringing grilled cheese sandwiches to 4th Avenue

Signage has arrived at 135 Fourth Ave., where another location of Melt Shop is coming soon.

This looks to be the fifth Manhattan location for the expanding quick-serve restaurant that specializes in grilled cheese sandwiches (and tater tots).



This location between East 13th Street and East 14th Street has applied for a beer and wine license. They are on the June CB3-SLA docket, though the item won't be heard during the committee meeting.

The previous tenant, Desi Shack, the quick-serve Indian-Pakistani restaurant, closed in April after less then two years.

After 2 months, J-Mar Special Touch barber shop closes on East 6th Street

[Photo from April 2 by Vinny & O]

J-Mar Special Touch barber shop opened at 343 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue in early April.

There was a price cut within a few weeks of opening...


[Photo from May 6 by Vinny & O]

...and by Saturday, workers had cleared out the space... bringing an end to J-Mar Special Touch's two-plus-month run...


[Photo by Michael Hirsch]

Until last fall, the space housed a rental shop that specialized in Bollywood cinema.

Week in Grieview

[NOT @LinkNYC. Photo by Derek Berg]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

Screaming Mimi's is leaving its home of 25 years on Lafayette for West 14th Street (Monday)

POTUS comes to town (Wednesday)

Mount Sinai Beth Israel ready to sell its First Avenue campus (Wednesday)

Tompkins Square Park has a Prince-inspired piano for the next 10 days (Wednesday ... Thursday)

The last exhibit at ABC No Rio before building demolition (Friday)

Chico's tribute to Muhammad Ali on Avenue B (Tuesday)

A new era (for awnings) at Veselka (Thursday)

Report: Steve Croman filed for alterations in 32% of his East Village properties (Friday)

Baby hawks fledge (Friday)

Vintage clothing boutique D.L. Cerney returns to the East Village for the summer (Friday)

A Hōkūleʻa sighting on the East River (Wednesday)

End days for Surma Books & Music (Tuesday)

Something brewing (demolition) for former beer distributor on East Second Street (Tuesday)

The Grassroots Tavern now opens 1 hour earlier (Thursday)

The St. Mark's Church Greenmarket returns for another season (Tuesday)

East Village-based artist Ori Carino unveils Ramones mural in Forest Hills (Tuesday)

Kanye West almost played at Webster Hall (Monday)

Welcome to Stuyraq (Thursday)

On East Houston, empty lot awaits million-dollar condos (Wednesday)

Former Avenue D Rite Aid has been demolished to make way for a 12-story building (Tuesday)

Plywood for 4 St. Mark's Place (Monday)

Restaurant-ready space at 58 St. Mark's Place asking $19k (Thursday)

A farewell show for Other Music (Monday)

A cakery for East Second Street (Monday)

DOUBLE RAINBOW (Sunday)

201 Second Ave. is for sale (Thursday)

Hi, Ben Shaoul would like to buy your building (Wednesday)

Puke Island Part 6 is this afternoon in Tompkins Square Park

Here's the rundown of band's via Facebook...

2PM R.O.T.T.E.R.
2:45 PURPLE PAM AND THE FLESH EATERS
3:30 CHAOTIC MELTDOWN
4:15 THE DECEIVERS
5:00 WE ALL DIE

Saturday evening clouds

Photo this evening from East 12th Street by Lola Sáenz

Hi, I'm a baby hawk

The first of the three Tompkins Square Park hawklets fledged on Thursday (by now, the other two may have as well)...

EVG regular peter radley shared these photos of the first fledger from yesterday afternoon... striking a pretty badass pose...





The first of Christo and Dora's eggs hatched in late April. So this one is roughly 8 weeks old. They grow so big with the daily rat tasting menus.

Updated 1:16 p.m.

Apparently the third hawklet just fledged...

Spellbound: Some love for Enchantments, the city's oldest witchcraft shop

The Guardian checks in with a feature on Enchantments, 424 E. Ninth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue, which has been selling custom-carved candles, blended oils and various herbs and resins the past 34 years.

To some excerpts with owner Stacy Rapp:

The shop does not perform spells, Rapp tells me, after leading me to a quiet backroom away from the heady smell of the incense. The shop provides supplies that people use to perform a spell. Enchantments strictly sells supplies for good magic, Rapp explains, which is one reason to which she attributes its continuing success. The shop puts out positive energy, so positive energy comes back to it, she explains.

And...

Not everyone is charmed by the pink-haired witch of East 9th Street and her egalitarian spiritual musings. People have called the shop in the past to tell employees that they are going to hell and are in league with the devil, says Rapp. When an article on the shop ran alongside photos of Rapp years ago, men would call the shop proposing to marry her in order to save her soul.

Image via the Enchantments website

Enjoy 6 hours of peaceful green space on East 2nd Street today

[A scene from the cemetery in 1831 via Harper's Weekly]

The New York City Marble Cemetery on East Second Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue has its first Neighborhood Open Day of the season today...

An opportunity for our friends and neighbors to enjoy our peaceful green space.

Saturday, June 11
Sunday, July 10
Saturday, Aug. 13
Sunday, Sept. 10

11 am to 5 pm

In the top photo... former President James Monroe was briefly interred here in July 1831... he was transferred to his native Virginia in 1858. (The procession shut down Astor Place, which was in its first year of reconstruction.)

A little bit of 'Heaven'

Here's Brooklyn-based Japanese Breakfast with "In Heaven," some dream pop from the band's recently released record Psychopomp.

They'll be at the Bowery Ballroom on June 20 opening for Mitski... that show is sold out, though.

Fledge night

After several days of practice, the first of Christo and Dora's red-tailed hawklets fledged last evening in Tompkins Square Park...


[Photo by Goggla, reposted with permission]

A small crowd gathered to watch as the young one took off to the west (as far as to the Krishna tree anyway)... Goggla was there. Check out her play-by-play here.

The other two hawklets should fledge very soon... expect to see a little erratic flying in Tompkins Square Park this weekend...

The last exhibit at ABC No Rio before building demolition

As previously reported, ABC No Rio will be shutting down at the end of the month ... the cultural center on Rivington Street between Suffolk and Clinton will be demolished this fall to make way for a new "environmentally friendly" structure.

Before that, there's still one more exhibit, which starts tonight.

Via the EVG inbox...

"InFinite Futures" + "The Past Will Be Present"
June 10 — June 24

OPENING Friday June 10 at 7:00pm
VIEWING HOURS Sundays 1:00 - 5:00pm
Tues, Wed, Thurs 4:00 - 8:00pm

"InFinite Futures":
Kevin Caplicki with Alexander Drywall, Peter Cramer + Jack Waters, Barrie Cline with Paul Vance, Jody Culkin + Christy Rupp, Mike Estabrook, Fly,
Brian George + Kelly Savage, Julie Hair, Takashi Horisaki, Becky Howland, Vandana Jain, Mac McGill, Max Schumann, Noah Scalin, Amy Westpfahl, and Zero Boy.

"The Past Will Be Present"
Margarida Correia, Jade Doskow, Vikki Law and Chris Villafuerte

"InFinite Futures" and "The Past Will Be Present" are funded in part with support from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts.

ABC No Rio's zine collection recently moved to the nearby Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center... while the Saturday matinee punk shows will move to various venues across the city.

You can read more about the new building and check out the renderings at the ABC No Rio website.

Previously

H/T EVG reader Bobby G.