HIGH END: The owners of the beloved Gargiulo’s Restaurant entered a
lease agreement with a luxury developer, who will most likely turn the
restaurant’s parking lot into luxury apartments. Photo by Corazone Aguirre
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COURIER LIFE, JANUARY 10-16, 2020 3
Spot news
BY ROSE ADAMS
Luxury real estate developers
have entered into a
long-term lease agreement to
redevelop a large Surf Avenue
parking lot, according to
documents obtained by the
Brooklyn Paper.
The owner of Coney Island’s
beloved Gargiulo’s
Restaurant, Louis Russo,
fi led a 99-year lease agreement
with luxury development
fi rm LCOR on Dec. 30,
giving the builder rights
to a sprawling parking lot
owned by the Russo family
that’s bordered by Mermaid
Avenue, W. 15th, and W. 16th
streets.
The lease agreement also
grants the developers control
over several adjacent
buildings, including 1530
Mermaid Avenue, which
houses S&M Mini Market, a
music venue called Classie
Sounds Entertainment at
2906 W. 15th Street, and an
empty lot on Mermaid Avenue
between Golden Crust
and H&R Block.
The lot is zoned R7x with
a C2-4 overlay, which permits
a mixed-use development
featuring ground fl oor
retail of around 6 to 10 stories
in height.
LCOR has built several
luxury commercial and residential
buildings in Miami,
Washington, DC, and New
York City, including a sevenstory
rental building in Williamsburg
called 34Berry,
whose studio, one-bedroom,
and two-bedroom apartments
go for $2,100 to $5,000
per month.
The Russo family, who
has owned Gargiulo’s since
1965, also signed an option
agreement with LCOR for
several other properties, allowing
the developers to buy
the lots for an undisclosed
price if they choose to, records
show.
The properties listed in
the option agreement include
two lots on Stillwell and
Mermaid avenues, as well
as a cluster of properties on
W. 15th Street between the
restaurant — located across
the street from the parking
lot — and Surf Avenue. One
of the lots housed Rita’s Ice
Cream, which closed permanently
a couple of months
ago, although it’s unclear
if the franchise’s departure
had anything to do with the
lease deal, according to reports.
The agreements come two
weeks before another glitzy
residential complex, Ocean
Drive, is slated to open on
Surf Avenue between W. 35th
and W. 36th streets. The luxury
hire-rise comes equipped
with a movie theater, a 50-foot
swimming pool, and about
half a football fi eld worth of
oceanfront sundeck — and
the building is the fi rst of
many luxury skyscrapers
to come to the People’s Playground,
according to its billionaire
developer.
“We’re going to build
Ocean Drive one, Ocean
Drive two, Ocean Drive
three, Ocean Drive four, et
cetera,” said developer John
Catsimatidis, who founded
Gristedes Foods. “We want
to make Coney Island look
like Miami Beach!”
The Russo family and
LCOR did not respond to requests
for comment.
Developers to turn Gargiulo’s parking lot
into luxury apartment complex
!"
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