no more Syd's Serious Sandwiches

I fear that the combined space discussed above will be way more than $3500, and go to someone in a far better position than Syd appears to be.

Landlords do not like cash poor tenants, and Syd's account seems demonstrate just how much investment is needed to compete in the present neighborhood.

Readers may not be aware that Syd's Sandwiches got "a big part" of its seed money from a competition run by the Brooklyn Library in 2005.

http://www.bklynlibrary.org/media/press/brooklyn-public-library-bpl-announces-winners-power-business-plan-competition

....he has been successfully establishing his reputation and brand since about 2005, yet (like many in the area) remains a very fragile small business.

I don't think he's looking at the combined space, which I suspect would be far more (especially in light of what's been discussed as coming in behind him). However, I think there are other spots on Nostrand that you could still get for <$4k as there are so many vacancies.

Here's hoping he pulls it out.

Me too.

If he can't get his old space, there seems to be small formerly Carib food places that should not require too much $.

More details from Rachel

http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20141028/crown-heights/shuttered-sandwich-shop-needs-your-help-reopen-crown-heights

Nice write-up in DNAinfo.  Retail along Nostrand is fluid so hopefully Syd can find a way to land on strip,

yes, many storefronts there are vacant, and he has an existing brand and reputation locally.

Mike Dunlap, business was good.  Reached breakeven and had opportunity to grow margins expanding on-line orders and catering businesses.  The area is prime.  I just needed to invest in the business to take advantage of growth opportunities so when investor back out, I was left with no options.

There's paper up on the windows now and sounds of movement and construction inside. The Syd's sign is gone. Anyone know whether the construction is because this space has a new tenant or because they're simply renovating in order to lure one?

I heard that Mike took both the barbershop and Syd's in addition to the corner and Deck Salon. No idea what's coming.

I do not perceive Mike D as being under the same fiscal constraints as Syd.

http://www.brooklynian.com/discussion/38807/whoa-beauty-world-is-gone/p1

Syd makes a video:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=784794918232710

I do not perceive Mike D as being under the same fiscal constraints as Syd.

http://www.brooklynian.com/discussion/38807/whoa-beauty-world-is-gone/p1

Nor do I but I've got to say I'm intrigued by his business model. 

The crowd funding does not seem to be going well. I'm worried that a video might not turn it around.

yikes, especially this video, which made me more nauseous than hungry. Those are not very well-chosen special effects...

Is there anyone on here that does video editing who might be willing to help him improve the video? I need my cheese-steaky goodness...

While walking past old Syd's today with Baby Crownheightster, I stopped and chatted with a man who was sweeping out the store. All of the Syd's furniture and equipment was gone. The worker said that it was going to be a coffee shop and bakery.

Learned many new things yesterday afternoon when walking past old Syd's with baby crownheightster. The construction crews have broken through the brick wall between Syd's and the old barber shop. It was slow going work because the wall was foundational and they had to be very careful. I spoke to the owner of the new establishment, who was a really nice man from Prospect Heights. I have been sworn to secrecy regarding the exact details, but I think it is fair to share that it will be a sit-down dining establishment. Soft opening is planned for the springtime.

It sounds like this space will be part of Two Saints.

Or, um, one of the saints.

http://www.brooklynian.com/discussion/44993/two-saints-opening#Item_7

Nope, totally separate from Two Saints.

Basically, given the amount of turnover and investment, this entire corner is going to be completely different by Fall 2015 than it was in the Fall of 2013.

@crownheightster has got the intel today!

@whynot_31 I only hope the Laundromat doesn't go anywhere...

For historical purposes, taken Oct 2013:

Actually, I don't think that screen grab shows the series of stores we're talking about (though I am really curious as to what will come into that space with the black and yellow checker board strips down the sides). 

Here we go: 

Beauty world (to the far left) will become Two Saints, Beauty World nails is already Deck Salon, and Foreign Accents and Syd's will be combined into anozzer sit-down restaurant (hooray!!) 

How long before Q's Tavern decides to up its prices and cater to the craft beer crowd?

Q's isn't going to cater to the craft beer crowd. Its an old man bar. They aren't interested in customers that are younger than 50 (unless you're female in which case you can come in the door once you've hit 35). I think they will close up shop and go home before they will start trying to get randoms walking in.

Q's isn't going to cater to the craft beer crowd. Its an old man bar. They aren't interested in customers that are younger than 50 (unless you're female in which case you can come in the door once you've hit 35). I think they will close up shop and go home before they will start trying to get randoms walking in.

I agree.

Syd's is going to be a latin cafe and sit down restaurant, combined with the barbershop space next door who Zev, the landlord, pushed out so he could have a gentrification business.  Zev owns the four store fronts being discussed, here.

I really hope these new places have some low price drink specials, hire locals and feature local art and music.  It makes me really sad to see Nostrand Ave changing in a way that conforms to fit the white people who have moved in, while kicking out those who have lived here for generations.

I suspect green is being sought, regardless of the hue of the hands it is in.

As if on cue, 852 St. Johns has filed plans to become a passive house.  

Near the corner of Nostrand Avenue and St. John’s Place, in the rapidly changing central Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights, a developer is planning to build a five-story, seven-unit passive house apartment building.

The project, designed by Zakrewski + Hyde Architects, will technically be an alteration of the existing three-story walk-up at 852 St. John’s Place. “We’re retaining as much as we can” of the existing structure, developer Justin Stewart told YIMBY (he was responsible for the city’s first certified passive house project, a brownstone rehab at 23 Park Place in Park Slope).

“The front façade,” however, “is not in good shape at all” – it’s currently a mish-mash of styles, without the attractive features of its neighbors – “and the back façade is not a pretty sight. What is going to be there will be light years ahead.”

The current building totals around 3,100 square feet of net floor area, to which nearly 3,000 square feet will be added, for a new total of 5,800 square feet of net residential space (the rest taken up by mechanicals and common space that doesn’t count towards zoning).

The property has traded hands five times over the past decade, with the first sale in 2005 for just $390,000. The latest sale came earlier this year for $1.23 million, or more than $210 per buildable square foot, putting 852 St. John’s Place in the hands of the current developer.

http://newyorkyimby.com/2014/12/permits-filed-passive-house-project-at-852-st-johns-place-crown-heights.html