The lounge called Bleu Violin has shuttered apparently for some times now and the space on 116th at the corner of Fifth Avenue is now available. More classic restaurants, casual bars, taverns and coffee shops seem to be doing better business in Harlem so maybe something of that nature should arrive on this corner in the future. What would be a good fit here?
sushi? ramen noodles? cambodian sandwiches? i just want affordable, not red rooster prices.
ReplyDeleteA chase bank please or duane read
ReplyDeleteWow Anon - Great ideas. I'll take any of the above.
ReplyDeleteThis is a hard location to crack. Not much in terms of foot traffic and the immediate area is semi-desolate and unwelcoming. It's been the site of many previous attempts (Ginger, anyone?), and I hope something viable comes along. Agreed with the previous post: a ramen shop would be amazing.
ReplyDeleteIt is a corner location with condo's above, Kalahari down the block and the Adeline a few yards away. The area needs a Diner!
ReplyDeleteWe could use a nice diner around here.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with this spot is the ridiculous amount of rent the landlords are charging. No matter what the concept is, it will not succeed. Restaurant operators should be careful when signing these ridiculous leases, let these landlords keep these spaces empty until they realize no one will rent them at these ridiculous rates, they need us more than we need them. Remember before signing a lease the financials, the numbers have to make senses, the percentages have to be in line across the board. Your restaurant can not be successful if you are going to pay 40% of your revenue in rent. The formula I have developed over the years to operate a restaurant show you the way to run a restaurant and the percentages you have to follow otherwise it makes no sense to operate the establishment
ReplyDelete30% Cost Of Goods
23% Payroll
7% Rent
10% Miscellaneous
5% Utilities
To break down into real numbers, let’s say a restaurant has gross sales of $100,000.00 such establishment can only spend $30K in Cost of Goods, and follow the other percentages, this percentages have to be monitored on a daily basis because if the operator waits until the end of the month to see how well/bad he/she did by that time it could be too late.
My advice to operators has always been to make sure the numbers make sense before signing that lease; otherwise it could be the beginning of the biggest headache of their lives.
Raphael Benavides
I agree, would love a reasonably priced diner in the neighborhood. Or a Lenny's!
ReplyDeleteRaphael, I could not agree more, landlords in Harlem have become greedier and greedier and this is why the Harlem revival is only a housing revival. When you look at Bedstuy you see cute small stores, mom and pop bakeries, clothing stores, book stores, coffee shops etc. Harlem has very few of these because the rents are outrageous. Shortsighted landlords will make the neighbourhood miss out on a much stronger and long-lasting revival.
ReplyDeleteWhat can we do about this, i.e, make landlords more reasonable so we also have improvement in shops and restaurants?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, what we have to do about this as business owners is stop renting from these guys. I understand that business improvement is extremely necessary but not when it comes at the expense of potential business owners walking into a situation that is doomed from the very beginning. I was offered a space here in Harlem for a certain price, it was offensively high, I made them an offer based on my formulas, they declined and I walked away happy because if I had rented that space under their terms my business would have collapsed in a couple years and I would have lost a lot of money. That is the situation that many new business owners are walking into. It is unfortunate, but someone has to make them aware of the risks. The only way landlords will be more reasonable is when they see nobody is renting their spaces. We should come together as a business community and set the standards of rent. The only reason Landlords are hiking up the prices of rent is because they have the demand, kill the demand and you will see prices go down. It is better for a person to keep their savings in the bank than to risk it investing in a business with no hopes of recouping their money. We love to see the business community flourish but not at the expense of hard working individuals who are trying to become business owners. And where are the elected officials "The Machine" as they call themselves, don't they realize the number of jobs being lost due to this epidemic. They are not hurting just our neighborhood but our city as a whole. But once again, is up to us, DON'T rent these ridiculous high price establishments, keep your money in the bank and only then we will see some change.
ReplyDeleteReally insightful comments, guys. The "revival" is really happening at a housing level (and even so with many caveats) and the new businesses that are breaking through are doing so at marginal profit (breaking even in most cases) at best. Commercial rent prices are really the wild west in terms of the freedom building owners have to charge whatever they want to the point of being nonsensical. There has to be a market-based approach to pressuring them to offer economically viable rent prices.This is definitely an area where a united front with advocacy/protest/campaigning would be helpful & sorely needed to ensure that a good variety of businesses, that Harlemites are clearly clamoring for, can enter the market and flourish.
ReplyDeleteWe have noticed that smaller businesses are looking outside of Central and South Harlem. West Harlem and Hamilton Heights is seeing a boom because it is further up and lesser known. Note also the type of business is very important on success. A mediocre lounge that has nothing new to offer as a destination spot does not seem the way to go.
ReplyDeleteHamilton Heights on Amsterdam between 135th and 150th has a string of available store fronts/restaurant space at very reasonable rents. There is high demand for new places to eat and a slew of wealthy home owners a block down on Convent Ave. Such a wonderful area.
ReplyDeleteAnon, we need more than food, we need boutiques, home goods, bookstores and the like so that it becomes more of a self sustaining organism.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Ulysses it needs to be better than a crappy lounge that feels like they can have poor standards and still have us go because the supply is not here.
ReplyDelete