Beijing-Based Hot Pot Chain Opening Second US Location in East Village
By Rey Mashayekhi April 5, 2018 12:20 pm
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Beijing-based hot pot chain First Lamb Shabu is opening its first Manhattan location in the East Village after inking a lease for 3,600 square feet at 218 East 14th Street, Commercial Observer has learned.
First Lamb Shabu signed a 10-year lease for 2,400 square feet of ground-floor retail space and 1,200 square feet of lower-level basement space at the five-story multifamily building between Second and Third Avenues, according to sources with knowledge of the deal. The restaurant will be the Chinese hot pot chain’s second-ever location in the U.S., following its first at 136-72 Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing, Queens—though it has more than 300 locations across China.
Taking rent in the deal was $20,000 per month, sources said, slightly below the ask of $22,000 per month. An Eastern Consolidated team of Harris Bulow, Aric Trakhtenberg and Kevin Bisconti represented the landlord, Brooklyn-based Dromos Corp., while Douglas Elliman’s Evelyn Zhu represented First Lamb Shabu.
“The storefront is ideally located on 14th Street, a busy east-west commercial corridor with 24/7 foot traffic,” Bulow said in a statement, adding that the space features 13-foot-high ceilings and 30 feet of street frontage, as well as access to the nearby Union Square subway hub and the Third Avenue L train stop.
Trakhtenberg described First Lamb Shabu as “a successful international brand,” featuring “a young, urban ambiance that will attract young professionals living in the East Village as well as students attending nearby colleges and universities.”
Representatives for Douglas Elliman did not immediately return requests for comment.
