Rescue Me: Red Hook’s 44-46 Beard St. has eviction-emptied restaurant space; is Grimaldi’s headed there?

Eye On Real Estate

August 13, 2014 By Lore Croghan Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The red-brick building is Red Hook's 44-46 Beard St., on the corner of Dwight Street. Ikea is just one block away, to the right outside the photo frame. Eagle photos by Lore Croghan

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Fire. Foreclosure. Eviction.

Awful afflictions, all of them.

They have left their mark on prime properties in sought-after Brooklyn neighborhoods, a stamp still visible in certain spots though our post-recession real estate markets get more prosperous by the minute.

Here is one such building which seems like it has “Rescue Me” written all over it.
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Great pizza would certainly perk up the place.

The word on the street is that Grimaldi’s might be leasing a Red Hook restaurant space that was emptied by an eviction.

Graffiti’d-up walls and security gate, a padlocked restaurant door and a faded eviction notice lend a sad air of neglect to 44-46 Beard St., which would otherwise be a charming historic brick building with apartments upstairs.

The ground-floor space has sat empty for years. It’s in a prime location, though, just a block from big-draw home furnishings retailer Ikea and on the corner of Dwight Street, which is populated by restaurants such as Rocky Sullivan’s.

We were unable to confirm the report of Grimaldi’s plan to become Ikea’s neighbor.

The building belongs to an entity connected to the O’Connell Organization, city Finance Department records indicate. The landlord’s leasing people didn’t respond to our queries by deadline.

Nor were we able to shake loose info from the popular pizzeria, whose DUMBO location at 1 Front St. has a line of customers waiting outside, whatever the weather.

Stay tuned.

P.S. If there’s a property in your neighborhood that cries out “Rescue Me,” let us know in the comment section below and we’ll check it out.