Newmark Knight Frank is pleased to announce that its client MGM Management has signed a 10-year lease on a retail space at its 99 Second Avenue location with Calexico, a popular, New York-based Cal-Mex restaurant chain. This marks a return to downtown Manhattan for Calexico, which previously operated a location in the Lower East Side. The restaurant is expected to open in the 1st quarter of 2019.
Jared Lack, managing director in NKF’s New York City office, represented MGM Management, the New York-based owner and property management company. MGM’s asking rent on the space was $25,000 per month. The space is 2,400 square feet at the ground level, while the basement is 2,300 square feet.
“Calexico is a true New York success story,” said Mr. Lack, “and we realized that they would make a dynamic tenant in a neighborhood known for its exciting restaurant offerings. The 99 Second Avenue location is really a great, centrally located spot for Calexico to prosper.”
Founded by the Vendley brothers from Calexico, California, the business started as a food cart and won a Vendy Award in 2008. Now, the restaurant has four New York storefronts, along with a cart in SoHo and a vendor space at the Barclays Center. Additionally, Calexico has locations in Detroit and Manama, Bahrain. Calexico was represented by Hazm Aliessa of Tower Brokerage.
“The East Village is a prime location for a restaurant and 99 Second Avenue is in the thick of the downtown restaurant scene with a large amount of foot traffic,” said a spokesperson for MGM Management. “We could not be happier about landing a tenant like Calexico in our building.”
Second Avenue in the East Village is a successful corridor for Mr. Lack, who earlier this year represented the same client on a lease across the street at 104 Second Avenue with Madame Vo for a new concept, which moved in last month.
About Newmark Knight Frank
Newmark Knight Frank, operated by Newmark Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NMRK), is one of the world's leading and most trusted commercial real estate advisory firms, offering a complete suite of services and products for both owners and occupiers. Together with London-based partner Knight Frank and independently-owned offices, NKF's 16,000 professionals operate from approximately 430 offices on six continents. NKF’s investor/owner services and products include investment sales, agency leasing, property management, valuation and advisory, diligence, underwriting, government-sponsored enterprise lending, loan servicing, debt and structured finance and loan sales. Occupier services and products include tenant representation, real estate management technology systems, workplace and occupancy strategy, global corporate services consulting, project management, lease administration and facilities management. For further information, visit www.ngkf.com. Newmark Group is a publicly traded subsidiary of BGC Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ: BGCP), a leading global brokerage company servicing the financial and real estate markets.
