When the New York Beer Company opens for business at 321 West 44th Street this March, patrons will be able to invest in the alcohol consumption of their peers. Loosely inspired by the New York Stock Exchange, the latest enterprise by restaurateur Brian Connell will feature brews priced according to how popular each brand is among its customers. Despite the novel idea, Mr. Connell’s search for approximately 2,500 square feet of ground-floor space and 2,500 square feet of basement space hit a dead end early last year after a nine-month scouring of Midtown South.
It was in January of last year, in fact, that a down-on-his-luck Mr. Connell, the proprietor behind restaurant group House of Brews, turned to Winick Realty Group broker Kelly Gedinsky, who quickly turned the barman’s attention to the Kushner Companies-owned building between Eighth and Ninth avenues. With a whopping 5,000 square feet of ground-floor space and an additional 1,000 square feet of lower level space, the dimensions were at odds with Mr. Connell’s initial plans. But as Ms. Gedinsky told The Commercial Observer last week, the space turned out to be more than meets the eye. Click the link after the jump for New York Beer Company’s annotated floor plan.
