A hospitality group based in Little Italy that’s known for a handful of nightlife hotspots around the city is taking over a now-shuttered East Village watering hole with plans to reopen the space and bring it back to its original character.
Golden Age Hospitality, founded by Jon Neidich in 2012, has signed a lease at 135 Ave. A, formerly home of the popular dive bar Lucy’s, with Gowanus-based property investment firm Ryco Capital, which purchased the property for $19.1 million late last year.
The acquisition vexed some locals and longtime Lucy’s stalwarts when news spread that Ryco was planning to evict the bar, which originally opened under the name Blanche’s Tavern in the 1980s. It soon after became known as Lucy’s for Ludwika “Lucy” Mickevicius, its beloved bartender.
Operations at the Avenue A staple may be getting a shakeup, but Lucy herself is staying put, said Ed Robertson, director of asset management at Ryco. He praised Golden Age Hospitality’s record of success operating bars in Manhattan and said the company is “really pleased we found a long term way to keep the spirit of Lucy’s bar alive.”
The bar likely still will be called Lucy’s and is expected to reopen in the fall, said Robertson. He declined to say for how long the firm’s lease is with Golden Age or for how much per square foot.
Golden Age, which is known for trendy spots such as Le Dive on the Lower East Side, and Acme and The Nines in NoHo, declined to provide more details about its plans for the space, but a liquor license application the hospitality group filed with the state in April, which was first reported by Eater, indicates the well-known name is staying the same.
Ryco bought the 5-story, mixed-use building, with the roughly 1,200-square-foot bar on the ground floor and apartments above it, under the limited liability company West Lake 135-139 Ave. A, according to Robertson and the deed. Robertson declined to say what else Ryco has in store for the building, between St. Marks Place and East Ninth Street, but permits filed with the Department of Buildings last month so far only show renovation work slated for the residential units.
Ryco, which according to its website manages $310 million in assets and operates 30 properties, including 270 residential units, 28 retail units and 800,000 square feet of office space across New York, recently scooped up a mixed-use parcel in Williamsburg — a 3-story building at 168 Wythe Ave. — for $10.2 million from Chicago-based private equity firm L3 Capital, Crain’s reported last week.
Julianne Cuba , 2024-06-07 19:45:20
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