Celebrity chef Todd English will soon bring new life to a heavily trafficked but long-dark FiDi corner, Realty Check has learned.
A huge eatery under the English banner has signed a lease for 20,000 square feet on two levels at 15 Park Row across from City Hall Park, downtown sources revealed. The site is at the block’s south end, which has been vacant since J&R Music World shut down in 2013.
The surprise deal leaves some unanswered questions, including exactly who the actual operators will be, but they’re believed to be an investor group that is backing English.
Although he’s been quiet in New York recently, English – who created the Plaza Hotel food hall — just launched a hotel in Las Vegas and food courts in cities including Stamford, Conn., and restaurants in West Palm Beach and Washington, DC.
No other details about the FiDi site could be learned. A canvas of brokerage web pages turned up an offering for the 15 Park Row space by a Meridian Retail Leasing team of James Famularo, Ben Biberaj and Elliott Wygoda.
The listing did not cite an asking rent, but our on-the-ground neighborhood source said it was $2.5 million a year.
Meridian president Famularo declined to comment.
The English lease is the latest breakthrough on the rebounding FiDi-area food scene.
The trend includes the imminent launch of Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s mammoth eatery complex at the Seaport District’s Tin Building, Daniel Boulud’s takeover of the former Augustine space, and recently opened Casa Cipriani