Conveyor Belt Eatery Kura Sushi to Open First NYC Location in Flushing
By Celia Young February 10, 2023 10:33 am
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New Yorkers will be able to get their sushi via conveyor belt in Queens this summer.
Kura Sushi inked a 10-year deal to open a 3,040-square-foot revolving sushi bar restaurant in the mall portion of Flushing’s huge Tangram mixed-use project, according to the developers F&T Group and SCG America.
Asking rents at Tangram range from $65 to $125 per square foot for storefront spaces and $350 to $450 per square foot for food court spaces, according to the landlords.
While Kura Sushi has over 600 locations internationally, the Flushing outpost at 37-12 Prince Street will be its first in the five boroughs, according to F&T and SCG. The chain has rapidly expanded since its founding in Japan in 1977, adding eight new stores in 2022 alone, and plans to open another New York restaurant in Carle Place, Long Island, according to Kura Sushi’s website.
Flushing was a perfect fit for Kura Sushi because of its “rich culinary history,” Hitomi Vinciguerra, Kura Sushi’s director of marketing, said in a statement.
Plus, it didn’t hurt that Tangram’s Renaissance Hotel and residential condominiums offered Kura plenty of potential customers, said landlord broker Fultonex Realty’s Kevin Siu.
“[Kura Sushi] ultimately decided to come to Tangram, I think, because of the design we have for this mall and because Flushing is a commercial hub,” Siu said. “There’s a lot of foot traffic that comes through Flushing.”
Other tenants at Tangram’s 275,000-square-foot mall include Orangetheory Fitness, Regal Cinemas and Goldfish Swim School.
Columbia Partners’ Christopher Schmitz represented the tenant in the deal. Schmitz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Update: This article has been updated to include a range of asking rents for both storefront and food court space, and to show that Tangram’s entire development covers 1.2 million square feet, not just its residential condominium space.
Celia Young can be reached at cyoung@commercialobserver.com.
