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Paul’s Daughter Signs 8-Year Lease for Coney Island Boardwalk

Posted in Food, Real Estate, Redevelopment, tagged Boardwalk, Central Amusement International, Coney Island, Gregory & Paul's, Paul's Daughter, restaurant, Tina Georgoulakos on December 9, 2011| 12 Comments »

1959: Paul's wife and daughter visit him on the Bowery. Photo © Tina Georgoulakos via Paul's Daughter Facebook

We’re thrilled to report that this afternoon, Tina Georgoulakos of Paul’s Daughter, formerly known as Gregory & Paul’s, signed an 8-year lease for her family’s restaurant on the Coney Island Boardwalk. “I’m happy because the Burger statues wanted to stay where they belonged,” she told ATZ wryly. “Now they will get a new sign.”

In October, Papa Burger, a fiberglass figure on the restaurant’s roof, sported a sign that said “Looking for a New Beach.” The 49-year old Mom-and-Pop had been evicted along with seven others by Zamperla, which runs Luna Park. In a surprising about-face, the amusement operator invited two of the businesses–Paul’s Daughter and Ruby’s Bar–to stay and negotiations have been going on for weeks.

Both Papa and Mama Burger and a mix of new and old hand-painted signage as well as a neon sign are expected to be part of the new Paul’s Daughter when it reopens in April 2012. Tina’s father, 82-year-old Paul “The Chief” Georgoulakos, the oldest operator on the Coney Island Boardwalk, will be back too. It appears that our habit of taking photos of “The Last French Fry” as a good luck charm worked two years in a row!

UPDATE December 12, 2011…Zamperla’s Boardwalk line-up for 2012 is now set. As we noted in the comments, Ruby’s Bar signed an 8-year lease, as did another Boardwalk veteran, the Lola Star Boutique. Tom’s of Prospect Heights will open a second restaurant on the Coney Island Boardwalk, at the corner of Stillwell where Nathan’s and Cha Cha’s were located. See “Coney Island 2012: What’s New on the Boardwalk” (ATZ, November 15, 2011) for details and renderings of the new stores, including Nathan’s, Brooklyn Beach Shop, Ruby’s and Paul’s Daughter, as well as the new Sky Coaster and other rides.

Lola Star Boutique Signs 8-Year Lease for Coney Island Boardwalk

Posted in News, Real Estate, Redevelopment, tagged Boardwalk, Coney Island, fashion, local, Lola Star, shopping on December 9, 2011| 2 Comments »

Dianna Carlin aka Lola Star with Shimmer in Lola Star Boutique, Coney Island Boardwalk, April 2, 2011. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Congratulations to Dianna Carlin, the first of the Boardwalk veterans to announce that she has a done deal with Zamperla’s Central Amusements International, which holds the lease on the City-owned property. Last night, the owner of the Lola Star Boutique on Coney Island’s Boardwalk tweeted, “So, I have some really incredible news…after much negotiating…Tonight I signed my lease to rent my boardwalk shop for the next 8 years!!” The boutique was one of only two Boardwalk businesses invited back by CAI last November, but lease negotiations went on for months.

Carlin is an entrepreneurial spirit whose successful projects include the Dreamland Roller Rink, a shop in Stillwell Terminal, a pop-up shop in SoHo and the new Star Pet Boutique. This afternoon, she announced a “2 TEES FOR $30 SALE” at her Boardwalk Shop this weekend “in celebration of the fact that we will be radiating our hot pink aura of fabulousness in Coney for the next 8 years!” The shop will be open Saturday and Sunday from 12 noon-5pm.

Hopefully more good news is on the way today or in the next few days. Will Boardwalk favorites Ruby’s Bar and Paul’s Daughter sign the leases which they were offered after a Miami restaurateur and Sodexo retreated from deals to take over their spaces? Negotiations have been going on since October over various clauses in the leases, leading to intense speculation about whether or not the beloved Mom and Pops will be back. As one of Ruby’s Facebook fans put it: “Arrgh! The suspense is killing me!”

UPDATE December 12, 2011…Zamperla’s Boardwalk line-up for 2012 is now set. As we posted on Friday, Paul’s Daughter signed an 8-year lease, as did Ruby’s Bar. Tom’s of Prospect Heights will open a second restaurant on the Coney Island Boardwalk, at the corner of Stillwell where Nathan’s and Cha Cha’s were located. See “Coney Island 2012: What’s New on the Boardwalk” (ATZ, November 15, 2011) for details and renderings of the new stores, including Nathan’s, Ruby’s, Paul’s Daughter and Lola Star as well as the new Sky Coaster and other rides.

Mannequins at Lola Star Boutique, Coney Island Boardwalk. April 4, 2010. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Last Vacant Store for Rent in Coney’s Stillwell Terminal

Posted in Real Estate, tagged Coney Island, MTA, RFP, Stillwell Terminal, Store for Rent on November 27, 2011| 5 Comments »

Coney Island’s Stillwell Terminal, which was reconstructed from 2001 to 2005, is about to be fully leased. The last chance to rent the last vacant store in one of the world’s largest above-ground subway terminals is coming up on Friday. Proposals should be submitted to the MTA by 3pm on December 2nd. For a copy of the RFP, contact the MTA Real Estate Department.

The suggested use for the approximately 625 square foot space is retail or food. The suggested annual rent is $45,000 with a 3% – 5% annual increase over the term of the ten-year lease. That works out to be $72 per square foot, but the potential tenant may offer more or less. The tenant is responsible for building the entire interior, installing utilities and other improvements according to strict specifications set by the MTA.

Not permitted: “Video games and arcades are not allowed. Stores selling t-shirts, beach-related accessories or Asian-themed dry goods are not allowed. Any selling of ice cream, donuts, submarine sandwiches, or grocery-type items is not allowed. ATMs or typical newsstand- type items are not allowed. Store is required to be open year-round (not just in summer months).”

Arcade games are apparently banned by the MTA and the restricted items are already sold by current tenants.Stillwell Terminal shops are occupied by Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins, Subway, Bank of America and a newsstand. Lola Star Boutique, Coney Island Beach Shop and Coney Island Gift Shop have the T-shirt and beach gear market covered. Gourmet Food, which sells imported chocolate, cookies and nuts, as well grocery items, opened this month.

The RFP also contains an interesting statistic: The annual average weekday station customer count –paid entry at station only, not exiting– is 12,240. Summer passenger count increases significantly. For Saturdays in June, July and August in 2009, average paid entry was 22,411.