POSTINGS

Wine bars really began to supplant winos on the Bowery in 2007, when Whole Foods, the Bowery Hotel and the New Museum of Contemporary Art all opened on New Yorks fabled broken boulevard. The 2008 market crash did little to slow skid rows transformation into the Meatpacking District East (see: The Standard, East Village Hotel at 25 Cooper Square, just off Bowery). Now the Downtown thoroughfare is poised to enter yet another phase of redevelopment. Intermix, the self-proclaimed fashion boutique for trendsetters, A-Listers and glam fashionistas opened in May at 332 Bowery, a former bodega. And last month, a portfolio of 11 mixed-use buildings sold to hip-hop clothier Joseph Betesh for $62 million. The retail brokerage RKF is at the front of this gold rush. And Senior Director Brian Segall has become the firms Bowery guru. Last week, Mr. Segall and Robert Futterman, RKF chairman and chief executive, led The Commercial Observer on a tour of the companys Bowery assignments, which (to the dismay of preservationists including Martin Scorsese) bolster RKF Executive Vice President Ariel Schusters prediction that the Bowery will soon be one golden strip.

The Bowery Boom

330 Bowery Although its striking cast-iron faade is currently under scaffolding, the former Bouwerie Lane Theatre features 1,020 square feet of ground-floor retail space and 70 feet of wraparound frontage. 57 Bond Street Mr. Segall pointed out that Bond Street was the first Bowery side street to go super luxury. In June, he brought the retailer Curve to 3,750 square feet on the strip, where neighbors include Ian Schragers cast-glass 40 Bond Street and its ground-floor exteriors pricey homage to graffiti. 328 Bowery Messrs. Segall and Schuster are exclusively marketing this 4,114-square-footer. Vacant since March 2009, when recession victim Washington Mutual closed up shop, the corner retail condo will re-emerge after a substantial facelift that is in the works following RWNs $3.8 acquisition of it earlier this year. 260 Bowery RKF is currently marketing this 9,300-squarefooter. It sits just below Houston Street on a stretch of the Bowery less gentrified than the northern reaches. Still, Mr. Futterman said there was no dividing line in terms of the Bowerys potential and repeatedly referred to this portion of the street as frothy. Mr. Segall said to look for a fashion tenant or quick service restaurant. 250 Bowery Anthropology bailed on the 10,000-squarefoot ground-floor space of this spiffy new condo building last month. Mr. Segall expects the sale of the retail condo portion, which RKF arranged, to close this week. A future tenant will be part of lower Bowerys gradual shift away from kitchen appliance and lighting stores and its increasing resmblance to Nolita. 325 Bowery Earlier this month, Messrs. Futterman and Segall arranged the $9.25 million sale of this 6,800-square-foot mixed-use building, where the on-trend Peels restaurant buzzes on the ground floor. Mr. Segall said that independent restaurants like Peels have no reason to fear the latest wave of change on the Bowery, since restaurants and nightlife help maintain a dynamic balance of old and new. 319 Bowery The old Amato Opera housevacant since the last aria was sung in May 2009sold for $3.7 million in 2008. Just three years later, the asking price had nearly doubled. Surprising early rumors that another alternative theater troupe would move in quickly faded. And Mr. Segall said a fashion retailer will take over the ground floor. 313 Bowery Last summer, Patagonia inked an 8,100-square-foot deal at this former annex to CBGB (315 Bowery; now John Varvatos), the squalid cradle of punk and new wave that arguably put the Bowery on the map as a destination for something other than flophouses. Patagonia Surf is due early this fall.

21 | JULY 30, 2013 | THE COMMERCIAL OBSERVER