For a city where killer rents and escalating minimum wages supposedly make it impossible to open a new restaurant, it’s remarkable how many new restaurants are opening.
CBRE senior vice president Gary Trock, who brokered some of the biggest eatery deals in the past few years — like Avra on East 60th Street and Empellon at 510 Madison Ave. — handled four new ones for fall alone as well as one major lease earlier this year.
“There’s traction for restaurants in the market,” Trock said. “They’re cautious, no doubt. The bigger operators are very conscious of rents and of what volume they can do.”
Earlier this year, Trock and CBRE’s Zach Parisi worked both sides of a long-term lease for E2 Hospitality’s BLT Prime at 1032 Lexington Ave. near East 73rd Street. The address was previously home to two other steakhouses and to Bistro Payard before them.
“BLT Prime, which closed its Gramercy location in 2017, did a direct deal with the landlord, Elysee Investments,” Trock said.
“The asking rent was $750,000 a year for just shy of 5,000 square feet. The space was fully built out with a magnificent, full-functioning kitchen in the lower level.”
BLT Prime opened in July. Coming up soon, new leases will bring eateries to a pair of upper Madison Avenue locations that previously housed popular restaurants with the same cuisines as their replacements. A new Italian restaurant from a group of local investors will open at 1302 Madison at East 92nd Street, which was the longtime home of Vico.
Trock and Parisi represented the tenant while Plaza Group NYC acted for the landlord. The “ask” was $250 a square foot for 2,850 square feet on the ground. The new operators are building out the space and should open the as-yet-unnamed spot in the next few months, Trock said.
A few doors north, a new French bistro will launch at 1312 Madison. “We found an operator who was looking to do a bistro” similar to ones that were there before, Trock said. CBRE repped both sides.
The unusually configured space has 400 square feet on the ground, 400 more on a mezzanine and 400 in the basement. The ask was “north of $250 a foot” for the ground level.
Meanwhile, the owners of Asian gastropubs Izakaya NoMad (Japanese) and Osamil (Korean) are adding a new Asian spot at 51 Irving Place. “They’re strong operators who know the NoMad, Flatiron and Union Square market very well,” said Trock, who repped landlord Springhouse Partners. MHP Real Estate Services acted for the tenant.
The venue has 1,800 square feet on the ground. The ask was $200 a square foot.
Also, Burgerim, an Israeli global fast-food franchise, signed a lease for 1,408 square feet at 485 Seventh Ave. in the Moxy Hotel at West 36th Street. This marks its first in Manhattan. Burgerim, a contraction of English and Hebrew, means “many burgers.”
Trock and Parisi repped landlord Lightstone Group while Home Quest Properties acted for the tenant. The asking rent was $300 per square foot for a 15-year lease.