Below Houston

RFR is marketing 190 Bowery, the former Germania Bank Building, for the first time in a decade. The NY Post broke it July 5.

The backstory is one of the best in New York real estate. Jay Maisel, the legendary photographer, bought the 6 story Beaux Arts landmark in 1966 for $102,000. He and his family lived there for 49 years, mostly alone, in what became one of Manhattan's most mysterious buildings. The graffiti covered exterior led even brokers to assume it was abandoned.

Aby Rosen's RFR paid $55 million in 2015. Rosen modernized the building's systems, restored most of the Beaux Arts facade, and deliberately kept the lower floor graffiti as a nod to the Bowery's gritty past. Then came the hard part: filling it. The office floors sat empty for nearly a decade.

That changed in 2025 when Industrious, the coworking operator, signed for the entire 33,000 SF office portion at a $95/SF asking rent. Ground floor retail (home to streetwear brand Supreme and the Parlor event space) is also 100% leased. Rosen called it "one of New York's great landmarks" and said he's "inviting someone else to write its next chapter." Avison Young's James Nelson is handling the sale. No asking price has been disclosed, but a fully leased landmark on the Bowery is a rare listing. Whatever it trades at will print the cap rate for corridor repositionings.

Owner takeawayA fully stabilized Bowery landmark hitting the market re-prices entire blocks. If you own within 3 blocks of Spring and Bowery, watch this close.

For decades, the defining feature of the corner of Stanton and Suffolk was the neon "Smart Clothes" sign, installed by Louis Zuflacht in 1942. Long after the clothing business faded, the sign remained. A beloved LES ghost relic photographed by tourists, preserved by a succession of tenants who never bothered to take it down.

Last year, the New York Sign Museum carefully removed it to save it from the dumpster. The sign coming down was the clearest public signal that something was happening.

On July 10, the full permit package cleared. The owners, Mr. Kafif and Mr. Yedid, are converting the 2 story walk up into a 4 story building with a penthouse, roughly 6,700 SF. Underpinning permits, structural approvals, mechanical, plumbing, and the construction fence amendment all reached Permit Entire within a 10 day window in early July. A $6 million listing with approved plans had floated earlier this year, which raised the obvious question: build or sell? The permits answered it. They're building.

Owner takeawayA family held LES corner going vertical is a block level event. If you own on Stanton between Allen and Clinton, your neighbor just took a 2-story building to 4 stories plus a penthouse. That changes foot traffic, tenant demand, and your building's comparable value.

Nemesis Coffee, a design forward specialty brand with 5 cafes across Metro Vancouver, signed a 15 year lease this spring at 75 Kenmare Street for its first US location. The brand was recently voted #15 on The World's 100 Best Coffee Shops list. The space is 2,136 SF.

The deal terms tell the real story. The landlord gave Nemesis 7 months of free rent to close. Year 1 base rent starts at $360,000, steps to $380,000 in year 2, and reaches $416,000 by year 3. A 15 year commitment from an acclaimed international operator says the brand believes deeply in the corridor. Seven months free says the landlord believed it even more and was willing to eat half a year's rent to prove it.

Owner takeawaySeven months free on a 15 year lease is a blip when you spread it across the full term. The landlord wanted a top tier operator on the block, ran the numbers, and decided the math worked. A few months of free rent is just the cost of landing a tenant you actually want.

Avdoo Development paid $63 million for the corner of Varick and King Street in December, financed with a $40 million loan from Valley National Bank. The plan is ambitious: demolish the existing 6 story office building and replace it with a residential tower of roughly 200,000 SF. Hudson Square's transformation is already reshaping the western edge of the corridor. This block is next.

The construction fence permit was issued July 14. The personnel hoist is approved. The mechanical means filing (allowing heavy equipment and debris chutes) was approved June 11.

But the full demolition application itself is still sitting in DOB Objections. The city hasn't signed off. Everything is staged. The paperwork just hasn't caught up yet. No new building filing has been submitted, so the final unit count, height, and design remain unconfirmed. Watch for that filing. That's the signal this goes from site prep to real construction.

Owner takeawayA $63 million assemblage going vertical in Hudson Square tightens the retail leasing market across the whole Broome-Houston corridor. Every new residential unit west of 6th Avenue means more customers walking past your tenant's storefront.