Michelin-starred chefs are eyeballing a restaurant site at 259 Fifth Ave.

Eye On Real Estate

February 10, 2015 By Lore Croghan Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The building with the construction shroud on it is 259 Fifth Ave., which has restaurant space for rent. Eagle photos by Lore Croghan

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Hey DNC: By convention time, there could be a newly arrived, star-spangled chef a short walk away from Barclays Center.

We’re passing on this info to the Democratic National Committee, which will soon decide which of three finalists should host its July 2016 convention — Brooklyn, Columbus or Philadelphia.

A vacant restaurant space at 259 Fifth Ave. that just hit the rental market is drawing inquiries from Michelin-starred chefs, James Famularo, senior director of the retail leasing division of Eastern Consolidated, told Eye on Real Estate.

The prospective tenants eyeballing the space include “a lot of foodie concepts, chef-driven concepts, artisanal coffee concepts and gourmet sandwich concepts,” said Famularo, who is handling the leasing of the site on the corner of Garfield Place in Park Slope.

The asking rent is $128 per square foot per year (meaning $15,000 per month) for the 1,400-square-foot ground floor. From previous restaurant tenants, the kitchen and bar equipment are already set up, and there is outdoor café space.

There is also a 1,400-square-foot lower level that’s kitchen support space with a food-prep area, liquor storage and walk-in boxes for food refrigeration.

All of this will save a new tenant time and money.

If the site needed a complete buildout, Famularo said, he might have put it on the market for $110 to $115 per square foot per year instead.

Asking rents for retail and restaurant spaces on the blocks right next to Barclays are as high as $200 per square foot.

Prospective tenants of 259 Fifth Ave. like the fact that so many restaurants are nearby, such as Calexico, Le Pain Quotidien and Luke’s Lobster, he said.

There’s construction going on at 259 Fifth Ave., specifically the addition of a third floor.

The scaffolding and construction netting should be removed by May, Famularo said.

City Finance Department records indicate that building owner Bui LLC purchased the property for $650,000 in 2003 from Andres and Violeta P. Cok as trustees of the Andres Cok Trust. Mortgage documents identify Brian Bui as a member of the LLC.