Korean Restaurant to Open at New Brooklyn Holiday Inn
By Liam La Guerre August 10, 2015 1:28 pm
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Seoul Bistro, a new Korean restaurant, will open in the planned 245-key Holiday Inn at 300 Schermerhorn Street in Downtown Brooklyn between Bond and Nevins Streets.
Restaurateur Joon Kim, who also owns Korean barbecue eatery Kristalbelli at 8 West 36th Street in Midtown, signed a 15-year deal for the 3,600-square-foot space on the ground floor of the 90,000-square-foot, $80 million hotel, which is slated to open this fall.
The Korean restaurant took the space that another restaurant was supposed to lease, The Wall Street Journal first reported. Developer Mehta Family LLC wanted to open the 15-story hotel with a restaurant, so it became a battle against time.
“This was a challenging assignment because the developer of the building and franchisee of the Holiday Inn contacted us after the restaurateur suddenly decided to pull out of the project four months before the facility was scheduled to open, jeopardizing the entire project,” James Famularo of Eastern Consolidated, who represented the developer, said in prepared remarks. “Because of the circumstances, it was critical that we find a quality restaurant operator immediately.”
Eastern Consolidated’s Jeff Geoghegan represented Seoul Bistro. The process to sign the lease with the Korean restaurant took a little more than just two weeks, according to an Eastern Consolidated news release.
“Because I’ve worked with Joon Kim before, he was the first restauranteur I called and he was able to respond immediately,” Mr. Geoghegan said. “Kim’s other restaurant, Kristalbelli, has been operating successfully for several years in Midtown Manhattan, and I know that Seoul Bistro will be a great addition to the Holiday Inn franchise and Downtown Brooklyn.”
The new Holiday Inn on Schermerhorn Street will feature a business center, indoor pool, fitness center and valet parking. Construction began on the Gene Kaufman Architect-designed hotel in October 2013 and the project topped out last year, as Commercial Observer previously reported.
