Midtown’s Zombie Food Hall is getting new life.
New York restaurant legend Stephen Hanson and international hospitality executive Alex Gaudret are investing in five Midtown mainstays previously operated by Urban Space, whose business has been decimated by the pandemic and rents have been delayed. Restart the hall.
Hansons and Gaudret’s newly formed HF Food Halls signed a lease last week at Vanderbilt Hall, an 11,000-square-foot venue at 230 Park Avenue in RXR Realty. HF is also close to and negotiating a lease for the Fail Organization’s 570 Lexington Avenue location. Difficult Food Hall at 787 Seventh Ave., One Irvine in Union Square, and for Urban Hawkers at 135 W. 55th cent
“We are acquiring each hole individually and rebranding them,” Gaudret told Realty Check.
Hanson and Gaudret plan to operate the Manhattan venue using a different business model than most food halls. Typically, operators rent a floor and sublet it to individual vendors who know (or don’t know) how to manage it.
Instead, HF will operate most of the stalls itself, drawing on Mr Hanson’s experience as founder of the former BR Guest restaurant empire including Ruby Foods, Atlantic Grille and Dos Caminos.
The company reportedly had annual sales of $200 million before Mr. Hanson sold it in 2007.
Vanderbilt has eliminated three underperforming stands, reduced the number of stores from 20 to 17, and replaced them with three brands owned by Hanson and Gaudret: Chicken Spot ICC, Bash Burger and Brett’s Deli.
Hanson says they’ve been so popular that overall business for the hall has increased by 60%.
A vegan burger joint that made just $400 a day has been replaced by Brett’s Deli, which brings in $6,000 to $8,000 a day.
“Between Alex and I, we had 40 restaurants, and we bring that quality experience to fast service,” Hanson said.
Hanson touted the superior quality of Vanderbilt’s stands because of his company’s expertise in all aspects of the business.
“At ICC, everything is made to order. We don’t fry it at 9 a.m. and serve it at noon,” Hanson said.
He also raved about the cupcakes at a new coffee and bakery stand called Moka Matcha, and reminded us that Realty Check found them better than Magnolia Bakery’s cupcakes.
“We spent almost nine months making it happen,” he said.
Not all existing vendors will be eliminated.
“Some people, like Pita Jero, do a great job,” Hanson said. “They’re in every hall and we’re happy to keep them.”
Their comeback comes at a critical time for the city’s food hall business. The Essex Crossing market line recently closed, and many other markets are sparsely populated.
Even the best establishments suffer from inconsistent food, unpredictable business hours, and long customer waits for what should be “fast” food.
HF has closed Urbanspace at 100 Pearl Street downtown and six other Urbanspace locations in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles and Boston.
Mr Hanson and Mr Gaudret were reported to have “taken over” the venue last summer, but they were only working with Urban Space to help the company restructure and better manage the venue. .
Right now, UrbanSpace is completely out of the picture.
Hanson noted that the partners have pre-existing relationships with all of the new landlords. For example, Feil was a minority partner in Hanson’s Strip House.
He declined to discuss the terms of his contract with Vanderbilt, but said the lease “will increase over time.”
Before the pandemic, food halls could have paid between $100 and $300 per square foot, depending on size and neighborhood density, brokers said.
“But today it’s a different world,” said one.
