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In the News: Amada Closing Date
••• “The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved, with some caveats, a series of design modifications to the plaza” at 140 Broadway. Those caveats include “the removal of those lighting elements on Cedar Street, which were deemed unnecessary by the commissioners, and a reconsideration of the material used for the plaza itself, the proposal could pass.” —Curbed
••• Forgotten New York on the old American Express carriage house at 60 Collister.
••• A New York Post article about eyebrow-raising prices for restaurant items such as bread and water includes Tetsu’s freshly grated wasabi ($12). And “After being contacted by the Post for this article, the restaurant dropped its $3 charge for extra ginger.” I wasn’t happy about that myself. P.S. You can buy a wasabi root at Sunrise Mart for a few bucks.
••• Amada is closing at the end of the month. (We knew it was closing, but not when.) —New York Times
••• “At Tuesday’s meeting of the Waterfront, Parks and Resiliency Committee of Community Board 1 […] Bob Townley, the founder and executive director of Manhattan Youth and a member of CB1, said, ‘I should tell you that Pier 26 is moving ahead with construction in the late summer.’ […] Mr. Townley, who also serves on the HRPT’s Advisory Council, said more specific information about the construction schedule would be available at an April presentation to CB1 by the Park Trust. The plan they will detail, devised by the landscape architecture firm OLIN, envisions populating the 790-foot length of Pier 26 with grassy meadows, shaded paths, playing fields, recreation nets, ridges of sand dunes, and a marine science station. The OLIN design team said that the lawn could also double as a special-events venue—for example, hosting movie nights for upward of 700 people.” We’ve already seen the design; part 1 of renderings is here; the fish-themed playground is here. —Broadsheet
••• “The City of New York employs an eye-popping 330,957 workers. But only one carries what may be the coolest job title in the municipal universe: Clock Master. Earlier this month, Marvin Schneider, who is 78 years old, set to work on an 18th-century grandfather clock in the council speaker’s office in City Hall. It was 3 minutes slow.” The profile includes a visit to the building’s clock tower. —Wall Street Journal
••• “Add Wagyu katsu sando to your vocabulary. The small Japanese sandwich, layering toasted bread and buttery Wagyu beef, is irresistible, served at a few places but about to receive dedicated treatment.” Don Wagyu at 28 S. William, “to open in late spring, will be mostly for picnic-ready takeout, but there will be a few seats for devouring on the premises.” (The photo is courtesy of Wagyumafia, which also makes Wagyu katsu sando, and is said to be opening somewhere in New York City, possibly around here.) —New York Times
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Amada had such a huge space for a tapas bar. Also, they just set up shop and thought people would come knocking–no attempt to reach out to locals or invite people in. They were pricey for tapas, so that would not have been a good fit for a weekday meal out. The restaurants with a large footprint might also struggle in other neighborhoods–Times Square being the exception. I would love to see that space divided into more intimate eateries.
no windows except for the front room makes it a very tough space
At Amada tonight and was told they did not want to close but there is a clause In their lease if someone comes along with more money the landlord can kick them out…thank you Brookfield for nothing…
I find that hard to believe.
It is not implausible but the mechanism might be slightly different. Mall companies including Brookfield typically earn on retail leases a combination rent of a low base (say 20-50% of market) plus a percentage (say 8-12%) of sales. Standalone stores more often have leases with a simple monthly fixed rent and no percentage of sales. It gives the landlord more risk and more interest in watching the management of ther business but also more possibility of reward, while keeping early rents lower for tenants.
Accordingly, there are also kick-out clauses where a tenant can terminate the lease with no further obligation if their sales don’t meet a certain level. There are kick-out clauses for landlords that give them the option to take back the space if they feel someone else could pay more rent (through greater sales potential, for example, or a higher base and lower percentage rent.)
These are the same landlords who had the dispute with P.J. Clarke’s if I recall correctly, where they wouldn’t relocate, give back space, or sell back the lease to make way for other tenants. Then there were all kinds of (alleged) construction interference lowering the business’ sales, maybe not only to cripple them but to try to trigger a landlord’s kick-out clause for low sales.
If the right is exercised, leases can also be bought out and terminated early.