Whoa -- Beauty World is Gone!

I've seen some construction going on in this space around the corner on St. Johns (the one to the left of the laundromat). It's a beautiful space inside, with very high ceilings. Anyone know what it plans to become? Anyone know what it used to be?

850 St. Johns place!

@laurapalmer Wow, I hadn't even noticed that and I use that Laundromat regularly. I'd love to hear the scoop, if anyone knows!

Edit: on a meta note, I'm not quite sure how to direct a comment "at" someone with a space in their username, such as laura palmer. The "@" symbol seems to only link to the word immediately adjacent to it.

A paper community notice taped to the front yesterday listed a bar, restaurant application in process.

@dawndew

To clarify, was the notice on the former site of Beauty World or the laundry?

Beauty World. on the corner pull down gate.

Ah, yes, I believe that notice relates to the appearance he was supposed to make in June at CB8.

However, he didn't appear and CB8 doesn't meet over the summer.

So, I think he needs to wait until Sept to move forward with the lic.

Any construction work "toward a bar" he pays for in the interim has risk attached, and he seems to have decided to just let it sit idle as a result.

I had a chat with Kara today, the manager of Deck. She told me that Mark de Zayas is her business partner at the hair salon, and that he is the one opening the bar next door. That bar, which is so far unnamed, is to have two levels (basement and ground level). The basement level will be a lounge with film screenings. Sounds very cool. Construction supposed to begin by the end of the summer (she said). GOOD LUCK!

Thanks @bicycle_roots

852 St Johns (to the immediate left of 850) is for sale.

http://www.cpexre.com/system/assets/properties/documents/642/original/852_St.Johns_Place_Setup.pdf?1394034855

In the above photo, it is/was a daycare, and can be yours for $1.275M

Mike D will have an opportunity to get CB8's support for a liq lic on Aug 4th.

I am interested in hearing how he will handle the "how will you manage security?" questions.

....running a bar is much different than running his present businesses: A cheese shop, coffee and wine cafe, bookstore.

He's going to need to convince them he will hire people who have experience:

1. Cutting drunk people off.
2. Handling the rare, but occasional fist fight.
3. Not serving people under 21

Mike D did not appear this month. See him in September?

Nope.   He does not appear on the schedule for September EITHER.

Whynot, do you have a hypothesis as to why that would be? I'm confused -- he's paying rent on the space, no? Why delay the process of requesting the permits for it?

Yes, I believe he is paying rent on the space.

Re: my hypothesis for the delay, please see your PM.

Would love to hear the hypothesis....

In part, I did not post my hypothesis to see if others have the same one. So, if you want to see mine, first post yours.

Then I'll send you a PM.

...I am feeling a little coy this morning.

...ooo, I feel dangerous.

Okay, here is my hypothesis. Upon signing the lease, MDZ realized that he had a very valuable asset. He has not done any build out since signing because he actually wants to sublease the storefront to someone else. That is my cynical hypothesis.

My possibly more realistic hypothesis is that MDZ had not started the application for a full liquor license until signing the lease, and is not building out until he is deeper into the process.

See your PM. Lets only talk about your sublease hypothesis, not my theory.

I am under the belief that he presently has the lease and is paying on the site.

In order to make money subleasing, one has to be more flexible that the actual owner. I have seen this work temporarily with popup venues that have little credit history and not a lot of capital, such as Halloween and Christmas stores.

And, for very small businesses that don't require a lot of capital, such as the hair salon that is renting a portion of this site.

However, the corner space doesn't seem as competitive in this regard.

Passed some workers putting up a construction company sign in the window this morning. Fingers crossed that this will work out - would be great to have something on that corner. 

I am excited about it. I hope it has a kind of French-bistro/cafe kind of flair to it. I think that corner spot could be fantastic. Kind of like the old Cafe Moutard in Park Slope.

Apparently it will be called Two Saints. A cafe during the day, and a bar at night.

http://www.bkmag.com/2014/09/03/michael-de-zayas-a-stay-at-home-dads-mini-empire/

Sounds a lot like Cafe Rue Dix, which seems to do very well.

Sounds nice!

Spoke to Kara at deck today - construction has started at two saints. And apparently the landlord has leased the old Syd's Serious Sandwiches and Finesse hair salon.

Wow. Mega-monopoly on that block! Cool though, I look forward to seeing what it all becomes. 

One landlord...one building....three new shops in a row!

Three shops rather than four? Will finesse and syd's be combined into a single storefront?

Given that you didn't update this thread, @Whynot_31, I assume De Zayas didn't appear before the CB8 board asking for a license? Soooo slow! It's been five months since he first put himself on the schedule. In my opinion, Nostrand just needs one nice sit-down restaurant/brunch spot in order to be perfect, and I'm very eager for it. 

You are correct.

According to this newsletter I got from Corcoran, Two Saints will have a retro '50s look and a menu featuring handmade sandwiches and pour over coffee. 

I wonder how one makes sandwiches that aren't hand made. That said, I do prefer not to think about the hands that have been on my sandwich.