Brooklyn Start-up Expands into Controversial Landlords’ Warehouse
By Tobias Salinger June 19, 2014 4:20 pm
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Artisanal food-seller MOUTH has moved into a 5,000-square-foot warehouse space owned by embattled Brooklyn building owners Joshua and Vera Guttman at 65 Jay Street in Dumbo after signing a five-year lease on May 1, Commercial Observer has learned.
The online food, wine and spirits hub with 30 employees has now added a distribution center down the street from its Indie Spirits + Wine Gallery store and across the street from the building where it opened its offices two and a half years ago, said MOUTH co-founder and CEO Craig Kanarick.
“The configuration of a large double-height space with a double-wide drive-in is ideal for our new pick-and-pack warehouse operation center and will continue to be used this way for the foreseeable future,” Mr. Kanarick wrote in an email interview. “We can grow exponentially in this space as we scale our business.”
Mr. Kanarick said there were no brokers in the deal for either the company or the owner, and he declined to discuss rent rates or give the name of the landlord.
Jayat Realty Corp. owns the property, according to city records, but the firm has no corporate filing with the state. Ms. Guttman transferred the deed for the parcel and two adjoining ones to the company in 2007 while listing herself as president of the firm, records show.
Mr. Guttman owned 15 Greenpoint Terminal Market buildings that caught fire in the city’s largest blaze since Sept. 11 back in 2006, but he’s been linked more recently with a Dumbo hotel project and a controversial proposed convention center at 79 Franklin Street elsewhere in Greenpoint.
A representative for the Guttmans confirmed the couple owns the Jay Street building but said there was no one available to comment on the transaction.
