Work starts on the 2 Caffe Bene spaces in the East Village

[Photo by EVG contributor Steven]

A few Mondays ago we reported that Caffe Bene, the coffeehouse chain based in Seoul, South Korea, is opening two locations in the East Village.

Work has started at both of the incoming Caffe Bene spaces… paper and permits are up at 24 St. Mark's Place between Third Avenue and Second Avenue … in the former Pinkberry space (above) … and the plywood arrived last Thursday at the southeast corner of Avenue A and East 13th Street…



The proprietors of the Avenue A location are seeking a beer-wine license for the address. (They will make their case tonight before CB's SLA committee.)

The previous tenant, Kim's Laundromat & Cleaners, got rent-hiked out of here in July 2014.

We were trying to find out how long the corner storefront was home to a laundromat… we traced it back to at least 1983 via this photo by Sally Davies…



And we used Google's Street View to [try to] match up for a then and now…



Previously on EV Grieve:
2 Caffe Bene locations coming to the East Village (45 comments)

Reader report: Rent hike washes away longtime Avenue A laundromat

New East 14th Street retail space already gone to pot

There's news about the new retail tenant at 212 E. 14th St., a building that is coming off a two-year gut renovation with one-floor extension here just east of Third Avenue.

Columbia Care NY signed a lease to occupy 3,500 square feet here, as The Real Deal reported. Columbia Care is one of the five companies selected to run medical marijuana dispensaries in New York.

However, this won't be like buying a bag of weed from [redacted], who you can always find selling over by the [redacted].

DNAinfo had the guidelines about buying marijuana from one of 20 dispensaries set to open in New York:

• So far, the medical conditions approved for marijuana prescriptions are limited to cancer, HIV/AIDS, ALS, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord tissue damage, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathies and Huntington's disease. The Department of Health can add medical conditions to this list as it sees fit.

• To register as a patient eligible to purchase marijuana, you'll need to get certification from your doctor demonstrating your medical need and detailing your prescription. You'll also have to be a New York resident, or a patient receiving treatment in the state.

• You won't be smoking the pot you buy. Dispensaries will sell no larger than 30-day supplies of marijuana in the form of oils, pills, or tinctures.

This East 14th Street location is not expected to open until after Jan. 1.

The Real Deal noted that Columbia Care, who's paying $140 per square foot, signed a five-year deal with a five-year renewal option.

The storefront was most recently the Super Saving Store, which closed in June 2011.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Residential, retail and an additional floor for 212 E. 14th St.

Full exposure at 212 E. 14th St.

Cantonese-style restaurant coming to Avenue B

Sum Restaurant, serving a Cantonese-style menu, is in the works for the recently refurbished retail space at 165 Avenue B between East 10th Street and East 11th Street.

The restaurant is the creation of chef Ben Pope. According to paperwork (PDF!) on file ahead of tonight's CB3-SLA committee meeting, Sum will have daily dinner service from 5 to 11 p.m., with opening hours at noon on Saturday and Sunday. (The PDF has a working menu for Sum.)

And the configuration shows 15-17 tables good for 40 seats. (There is a service bar with 3-5 seats.) Sum is seeking a beer-wine license. However, this item will not be heard during tonight's committee meeting.

Pope was the executive chef helping launch 2 Duck Goose, another Cantonese-style restaurant, in Brooklyn last year.

According to the Times in a preview piece on 2 Duck Goose last August: "The chef Ben Pope, a native of Hong Kong, studied at the French Culinary Institute and found himself missing the Cantonese food he grew up with."

Before a top-to-bottom renovation last year at 165 Avenue B, the ground-floor unit was a residential space. However, prior to this, it was a storefront housing the great junk shop Waldorf Hysteria.

Is 26 Avenue B ready for its new building now?

It appears that work is ready to resume at 26 Avenue B between East Second Street and East Third Street, where there have been approved plans for a new 8-unit, 6-floor residential building.

Work stopped here in April 2013, after excavation at the site caused the evacuation of the residents (and Croxley Ales) next-door at No. 28. A resident at No. 28 started to notice cracks in her ceiling after construction began, DNAinfo reported. Debris also reportedly fell from the building.

In subsequent months/years, workers made structural repairs to No. 28.

The empty lot now has freshly painted plywood … and a rendering, basically showing the apartment building above the Duane Reade next door…



The lot itself remains empty…



… though it does seems like a good spot for some sun…



This space was once home to the Croxley Ales beer garden.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] 6-story apartment building ready to rise from the former Croxley Ales beer garden

[Updated] Report: 28 Avenue B has been evacuated

Full-stop work order served at construction site adjacent to evacuated Avenue B building

Resident wants stuff back that workers took from not abandoned apartment

D-Lish Pita has closed on Avenue A

D-Lish Pita has joined former neighbors Benny's (and Benny's to-go) in going out of business on Avenue A at East Sixth Street.

A for rent sign hangs from the D-Lish sign… and three storefronts are now vacant here.



D-Lish opened in late 2010… taking over the space from Habib's Place. We never actually tried D-Lish. Difficult to break out of the Rakka Cafe or Mamoun's habit on St. Mark's Place.

New Petco ready to be Unleashed on Aug. 31

The signs are up in the retail space at 31-33 Second Ave., aka The Luxe East, where an Unleashed (by Petco) outlet has been in the works.

Signs on the door now point to an Aug. 31 opening here between East Second Street and East First Street...



What is Unleashed?

As pet stores go, we’re anything but ordinary. Unleashed by Petco hit the pet scene in 2009, with our first store in San Diego’s Hillcrest neighborhood. Our concept is simple – provide the same knowledge and know-how offered by Petco in a unique, smaller package.

This location will also include dog training…



Developer Ben Shaoul bought this property for $5.6 million in 2011. He then added three floors to the existing building … and unloaded it for $29 million.

Week in Grieview

[Sunset crows on East 10th Street via Bobby Williams]

The Bowery Mission is in urgent need of food donations (Wednesday)

B&H Dairy reopens (Friday)

RIP Ian Jones (Wednesday)

A.K. Shoe Repair needs a new home (Tuesday)

East Seventh Street package thief caught on surveillance camera (Thursday)

Out and About with Arthur Rivers (Wednesday)

Tenant advocacy group names Icon Realty and Steven Croman among NYC's worst landlords (Wednesday)

Sustainable NYC has closed (Monday)

Hey, it's Jones LES (Monday)

Tay Tay fans talk shit at Ballaro (Wednesday, 76 comments)

Residents seeking to block the Cock from moving into the former Lit Lounge space on Second Avenue (Friday)

Gutting the former Lan Cafe space (Thursday)

Michael Jackson impersonator wanted to be starting something, like dancing (Thursday)

Marymount Manhattan College's Cooper Square dorm opens on Aug. 28 (Thursday)

Corner of East Houston and Orchard now an empty lot (Monday)

An appreciation: 9th Street Community Garden (Friday)

Here's the Bowlmor Lanes-eating 23-story condo coming to University Place (Wednesday)

5-week old restaurant space now on the market (Monday)

Buy the Robyn, it's a deal (Tuesday)

Former Mercadito Cantina space remains on the market, and now with a new broker (Tuesday)

A 95 percent full reveal at 185 Avenue B (Thursday)

… and an important story to note via the EVG inbox…

"I am writing to report a ratastrophe on East 12th Street … I looked at the window of the exterminator shop, and I saw that the rat that is usually perched on top of the fake rock in the window display was lying on its side! I don't know when or how this happened, but I felt bad for the rat, even though it is likely made of plastic and doesn't have feelings."

KW Body Work Inc. rubbed out

A few readers noted that the massage place on East 10th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue closed last week… Not sure what else to say about this other than that they had been there for awhile.

A mural for Ben Shaoul's Bloom 62, which is no longer for sale

[Photo by Stacie Joy]

Several readers pointed out that a mural went up on the wall Thursday at Bloom 62, the 81-unit rental building on Avenue B at East Fifth Street.

Here's another view… via @SquareMusings …



Anyone happen to know the name of the artist? Thank you in the comments… The artist is Ludo … and it was for the Lo Man Art Festival.

Meanwhile… Back in March we reported that landlord Ben Shaoul put Bloom 62 on the market … with an $80 million asking price for the former Cabrini Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation.

Now, according to The Real Deal, Shaoul "opted not to sell – and instead secured $63 million in recapitalization financing." So Shaoul is here to stay…

Barnyard Cheese is back open on Avenue C

[Photo by Will Steacy via nycgo]

After a 10-day closure for various renovations/improvements (like a new AC system), Barnyard Cheese Shop reopened yesterday at 149 Avenue C between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street.

And we missed their early-evening deal…

Barnyard is BACK!!! CRAZY special!! FREE SPINACH EMPANADA now til 8:30pm with ANY purchase!! Just out of the oven! Magic word is CHEESE

— Barnyard Cheese Shop (@BarnyardCheese) August 15, 2015

Previously

Os Gêmeos on 2nd Avenue

If you been walking on Second Avenue near East First Street, then you've likely seen the new mural going up next to the former BP station on the corner.

As BoweryBoogie noted yesterday, this is the work of the Brazilian twins Os Gêmeos … Goggla shared the above photo from yesterday… we walked by earlier this morning, and they were just starting work…



… and a view from the cherry picker…

A video posted by osgemeos (@osgemeos) on Aug 14, 2015 at 5:46pm PDT

A 10-story retail-resident complex has dibs on the former BP property.

P.S.
There is a new mural going up at Bloom 62 on Avenue B as well… will post about that later. Update: That post is here. (Ditto for the new mural on East Third Street next to the shelter.)

Last Saturday for Summer Streets

[Photo of 4th Avenue from Aug. 1]

From 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. today… to refresh your memory…



And avoid Broadway…