EV Grieve

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

beQu Juice is closing on 9th Street

[Photo by Steven]

You may have noticed the for rent sign above beQu Juice (or Bqjuice) at 350 E. Ninth St. just west of First Avenue.

Workers confirmed that the shop was expected to close after service tomorrow (Nov. 27). Management says that they hope to find another space elsewhere in the neighborhood.

The juice shop opened in January 2014 at the former home of the 9th Street Bakery, which closed in 2012 following an unsuitable rent increase.

This is your chance to be the 7-Eleven's landlord on the Bowery!

Here's an investment opportunity for you involving the retail condo at 351 and 353 Bowery between Third Street and Fourth Street... home of a 7-Eleven for maybe the next 15 years.

Details via the listing!

The Boulder Group is pleased to exclusively market for sale a single-tenant 7-Eleven retail condominium located in Manhattan within the Bowery neighborhood. 7-Eleven is committed to this location as evidenced by their recent lease extension which now expires in December 2034.

The lease features 10-percent rental escalations every five years in the primary term and a 15-percent rental escalation in the renewal option. 7-Eleven is an investment grade tenant with a Standard & Poor’s rating of AA-. This location is open 24 hours and a top performing location for 7-Eleven.

And the price for this 2,162 square feet of retail (to the exact dollar): $6,915,032.

This 7-Eleven opened in December 2011.

A new bus-boarding platform for 14th Street

The city yesterday started installing a bus-boarding platform on the westbound lane of 14th Street between Irving Place and Union Square East for the M14 A/D SBS.

As previously reported, the DOT has installed these platforms at other locations throughout the city "to make it easier for customers to get on and off buses, give more room for pedestrians on the sidewalk, and help buses move faster as there’s no need to pull over to the curb saving up to a minute per stop."

The bus-boarding platforms are part of the 14th Street Transit & Truck Priority Pilot, which launched in early October.

In other transportation news, City Councilmembers Carlina Rivera and Ydanis Rodriguez are introducing legislation later today at City Hall to create two new agencies: an Office of Active Transportation and an Office of Pedestrians. More on this later.

Thanks to Nick Solares for the photo!

Foundation watch: 24 1st Ave.

On our last visit to 24 First Ave. and its property mate 99-101 E. Second St., workers had just demolished the structures on the property.

These buildings were leveled to make way for a 7-story, 22-unit residential building called The 101 Condominium.

[Rendering of the 1st Avenue side via Zproekt Architects]

Work is now in the pit stage... here's a look through the blogger portals on the plywood to see how foundation is coming along...

[1st Avenue side]

[2nd Street side]

No. 24 's previous occupants included the cabaret Lucky Cheng's (1993-2012) and Club Baths, the first openly gay-owned bathhouse (1971-1983)... and Cave Canem and La Nouvelle Justine in between.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• Building that housed Lucky Cheng's on 1st Avenue now on the auction block

• Onetime home of Lucky Cheng's and adjacent property sell for $12 million

• 7-story residential building pending at the former Lucky Cheng's space

• Demolition permits filed to bring down former Lucky Cheng's building on 1st Avenue

• The 411 on the 101 Condominium

[Photo from 2011 by Jeremiah Moss]

Monday, November 25, 2019

The 1st Avenue and 2nd Avenue locations of the Bean closed for good yesterday

[1st Avenue location photo by Steven]

Regulars were shocked to learn that the seemingly always-busy Bean locations on First Avenue and Ninth Street and Second Avenue and Third Street shut down after service yesterday.

A tipster told us about Bean employees thanking regulars for their patronage. (Another tipster said that the store employees received little warning about the closure.)

"It is sad but true that we are closing those stores. It is a very hard day for us," owner Ike Escava confirmed via email. "Due to rising costs the decision to close was unfortunately the only one we could make."

Moving forward, the coffee shop will maintain the location on Third Avenue at Ninth Street and the incoming spot on Broadway and Ninth Street. (The Bean on Broadway and 12th Street closed earlier this month ahead of the move to the larger space on Broadway.)

"We hope to continue to see our loyal customers at those locations and to continue serving the East Village for a very long time," he said.

The Bean has had a presence in the East Village since 2003.

The outpost on Second Avenue and Third Street debuted in December 2011.

[Photo from 2011]

The First Avenue and Ninth Street shop opened in June 2012.

Today is the last day for Harry & Ida's on Avenue A

The Harry & Ida's Meat and Supply Co. wraps up four-and-a-half years of business today at 189 Avenue A at 12th Street. (Hours: 11 a.m. to ?)

Siblings Julie and Will Horowitz, who also operate Ducks Eatery on 12th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue, announced the closure in an Instagram post earlier this month.

The general store was named for their great-grandparents Harry and Ida Zinn, Hungarian immigrants who had a store in Harlem. This shop arrived on Avenue A in June 2015, and immediately drew raves for their pastrami ...

The pastrami was one reason mentioned for the closing.

Per Eater:

But that pastrami presents a conundrum for Horowitz, an environmentalist committed to sustainability. “We love selling pastrami because it fucking tastes delicious, and that’s where we’ve had all our accolades,” says Horowitz. But selling it in the quantities that might make for a sustainable business won’t make for a sustainable planet, he says. “We still wanna do it, we just don’t wanna make a business out of it.”

And...

Pastrami under the Harry & Ida’s moniker will still appear as a special at Ducks, but now the chef will devote more attention to non-meat items he’s developed, like smoked carrots and a viral smoked watermelon that looks like a giant ham. “I think that’s the direction for us: Keep a small restaurant and develop more sustainable [foods].”

There were also financial considerations. In August 2018, they shuttered their offshoot Harry & Ida’s Luncheonette in the Financial District after 10 months in business.

And as I reported in October 2017, workers removed the sidewalk bridge and scaffolding from the Avenue A side of the Steiner East Village condoplex between 11th Street and 12th Street.

For 19 months, the entrance to Harry & Ida's was obscured by all this construction. In total at the time, 19 of their first 29 months in business had been under the doom and gloom of that sidewalk bridge.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Acclaimed pastrami purveyors Harry & Ida's will close this month on Avenue A

75 1st Ave.'s growth spurt

Several 75 First Ave. Watchers (low initiation fees with group memberships available!) have remarked how much the condoplex at 75 First Ave. has risen in recent weeks here next to the Rite Aid between Fourth Street and Fifth Street.

Work appears to be just starting now on the sixth floor of what will be an eight-floor, 22-unit residential building. That work picked up earlier this year after nearly 14 months of inactivity. (The ground breaking was way back in September 2016.)

The completion date on the plywood rendering is listed at summer 2020.

Previously on EV Grieve:
2020 vision: New completion set for Rite Aid-adjacent condoplex on 1st Avenue

Punto Rojo looks done for on 1st Avenue

Last month we noted that a homemade restaurant for sale sign was hanging in the front window at Punto Rojo, the reasonably priced bakery-restaurant that serves traditional Colombian food at 221 First Ave. between 13th Street and 14th Street.

Punto Rojo has apparently closed for good. As you can see in the top photo, the signage was recently removed, and the space looks as if it was cleared out.

These actions also coincided with a closure at the hands of the Department of Health on Nov. 12 ...

Inspectors found 86 violations points, including "Food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations," per public records.

Punto Rojo took over the space from Señor Pollo, which specialized in Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken, in the spring of 2018.

Dig debuts on 4th and 13th

Dig opened last week on the southeast corner of Fourth Avenue at 13th Street.

And this outpost of the health-conscious fast-casual chain is taking part in a pilot program for its take-out food containers.

Per Forbes:

The program called Canteen by Dig allows customers to checkout a reusable bowl (for $3 per month) made of a BPA-free melamine, take their food anywhere and then return the container once they’ve finished.

“More than ever, people are conscious of their everyday impact on the environment and looking for ways to actively reduce their footprint,” said Elizabeth Meltz, Head of Environmental Health at Dig.

Dig will test the program for the next few months and eventually extend it to other partner restaurants and businesses, per Forbes.

Meanwhile, this storefront has been reusable in recent years. This has been a challenging corner for businesses since the longtime deli was rent-hiked out of here in November 2012. The space has been home to Fresh & Co. and Pie Face and, most recently, Sandwicherie in the past five years.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Dig Inn confirmed for 13th Street and 4th Avenue

The former Steamy Hallows space is for rent (the back rent is also due)

The former Steamy Hallows (and Cake Shake!) space is now for rent at 514 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

The Harry Potter-themed coffee and dessert shop closed at the end of October. According to the Steamy Hallows Instagram account, the owners couldn't come to an agreement with the landlord on a new lease.

Meanwhile, the landlord legalese taped to the front window shows that the Potterheads owe back rent of more than $12,000...