Manhattan restaurateurs are having trouble finding affordable spaces, priced out of the retail market by drugstores, cell phone purveyors and?yes?chain restaurants. Three observations from today's NYT article on the phenomenon:
1) "Among many top-end restaurants, the big interest now is the Upper West Side. 'Broadway, between 72nd Street and 86th Street, is where a lot of these restaurants would like to be.'"
2) "And so many restaurateurs are compelled to look elsewhere, like the Lower East Side." [ed?the horror!]
3) "We'd open a dozen more California Pizza Kitchens if we could [ed?the horror!], but we're having trouble finding the right locations that have the right rents and in buildings that want food."
Apparently, this is all part of a big commercial real estate bubble, so no worries.
· Too Many Cooks, Too Few Affordable Spaces [NYTimes]
· Deals Are Hot and Heavy but the Talk Is of a Bubble [NYTimes]