Raw Out At Piazza

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This is going to be Circles ?

[BarryG]

What is wrong with leasing at the Piazza?

Circles will make enough money doing takeout and delivery that they should be ok unless rent is really absurd. Of course in that case they'd be fine at a storefront on 2nd or even Girard. I hope Bart doesn't convince them to do some sort of half-baked upscale concept.

[Tidelaw343]

From the former & current shop owners I speak with (part of the job) at the Piazza, rents are ridiculously high for the neighborhood. People get lured in with free rent for a couple months, and sign a short term deal. They break even at the end only to get their rents doubled, or tripled, and most just walk.

It's a neighborhood looking for mom & pop retailers, and he's charging corporate rates.

[BarryG]

In several months, Rim says, the space will reopen with a new name and nightlife concept that he says is more in keeping with the younger clientele of the Piazza. Rim said a big New Year's Eve party on the Piazza that involved the other bars/night spots convinced him that the Piazza was a viable venue.

Raw at the Piazza is '50% closed' | Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/03/2012

For some reason I don't think that the Piazza becoming a nightclub mecca is going to end well.

[loveisnoise]

It doesn't seem to be anywhere else, but is equivalent. Apollinaire is gone, and now replaced by some meathead concept called King's Oak. It is now an 'american grill and sports bar'. Looks like on Wednesdays they have a $20 rib eye. I might try it tomorrow, but it has one catch-you have to survive their open mic night.

Tuesday's also has all you can eat crabs, but starts at 4pm so I'll probably never get to that.

[3rd&Brown]

...

[3rd&Brown]

Circles to Northern Liberties | Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/03/2012

and it's not at the piazza. thank god.

[loveisnoise]

Wow. You obviously have an axe to grind with the piazza. It seems so.

Circles to Northern Liberties | Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/03/2012

and it's not at the piazza. thank god.

[five apples]

Circles to Northern Liberties | Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/03/2012

and it's not at the piazza. thank god.

Much better location for them.

[wilreynolds]

I've paid rent at the rialto, and it wasnt horrible, but I could see the raising rents thing happening...the draw of the piazza has to be that there is a lot going on, right? So maybe for the opening tower just got people in, then raised rates as it saw how the piazza was doing. The good thing about rents is that if people start to NOT come in b/c of rents, we're liekly to see the rents come down so that there aren't big vacancies in the piazza, because too many of those and things start going downhill in a hurry. I wonder what will go in that space, they are already 0-2, and I am just waiting for gunners run to close someday, that place kinda sucks. PYT and Kings Oak seem to be doing OK (the open mic night is horrendous), but they are doing OK. The coffee shop (euphoria) is doing fine and across the street bar ferdinand and el camino are doing decent. But there are a decent amount of vacancies in the walk now, and now there are like 4 workout studios, so you know its only a matter of time before at least 2 go bye bye.

[BarryG]

Raw at the Piazza is '50% closed' | Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/03/2012

For some reason I don't think that the Piazza becoming a nightclub mecca is going to end well.

lol guess who is taking over the space?

Raw's Tony Rim confirms that he is trying to line up a deal that will partner him with the crew from Old City's Red Zone.

Link: Piazza's Speck, er, Raw to become a beer bar?

Just like the Red Zone is a "sports bar," this one will be a "beer bar." Again: not going to end well.

[guzzijason]

A "beer bar"? Couldn't they have just said "a bar", or were they afraid people would automatically assume it's a juice bar or something?

__Jason

[3rd&Brown]

Wow. You obviously have an axe to grind with the piazza. It seems so.

why would you say that? i want the piazza to succeed; i just don't think circles was the right fit for that space.

the problem with the piazza is bart. in short, he thinks he's cool but he's not. in fact, he insists he's cool. he's in fact a d-bag with really really bad taste.

the only reason why the piazza is anything remotely close to cool is that the neighborhood convinced him to change his vision for the space after he proposed his dumb infantile vision of the spanish steps. he brought EM Architecture on and got a great looking set of buildings which is closer to Berlin than it is Washington Township, New Jersey, which is what his vision was.

however, after EM drew up all the plans and built the first set of buildings, he fired them (probably to save money, because he's cheap, afterall). the final buildings on the piazza were completed without EM's involvement, and it only went downhill from there.

the projects he's now back to building in Northern Liberties are all-in-all, old Bart. that schlock (the rental townhomes) he threw up in a matter of weeks on George Street near 1 Shot Coffee look like aborted pimples on a fat dude's ass. and they've forever ruined the streetscape of those blocks. the houses he's building on Green between N American and 2nd Street, he built WITHOUT PERMITS. the job got shut down, not because he didn't get zoning approval (though maybe he didn't, because the project doesn't look like what the neighborhood signed-off on), but because HE DIDN'T APPLY FOR BUILDING PERMITS. this isn't a rehab. it's 7 new houses that sprouted out of the ground, got completely framed, and then it was "discovered" he didn't pull a SINGLE permit.

the guy is a schiester. there's no other way to describe him. so to see that he continually chases good tenants from his buildings is simply not surprising. there are a number of great spots in those buildings which i regularly patronize...namely, Owen's places, the service stuff (dry cleaners, etc), Millesime, even PYT. but all-in-all, the trajectory of his tenant quality is down, not up. he's lost a number of great businesses over the years, some which were seemingly successful. it's no surprise, why perhaps, that he's just chasing the highest buck in the short term and not paying attention to the quality/mix/chemistry among his tenants in trying to create the best experience/atmosphere possible.

[BarryG]

Wow. You obviously have an axe to grind with the piazza. It seems so.

why would you say that? i want the piazza to succeed; i just don't think circles was the right fit for that space.

Look at the date, I'm pretty sure that was just a hilarious response to the thread about the concept from the Farmer's Cabinet people coming to Spring Garden where you accused LIN as having an axe to grind with the management.

[RainboTeabagger]

the projects he's now back to building in Northern Liberties are all-in-all, old Bart. that schlock (the rental townhomes) he threw up in a matter of weeks on George Street near 1 Shot Coffee look like aborted pimples on a fat dude's ass. and they've forever ruined the streetscape of those blocks.

Hahaha! Its funny you mention those properties. There are EXACT mirror versions of them in Olde Kensington. I think around Master between Front and 2nd.

[loveisnoise]

Indeed, but now it plays well again.

3rd&Brown, you just went on a hell of a rant. You just said how bad of a developer Blastein is, too cool, poor planning, scheister, on an on and on.

I remember one time when all I said was that the super fresh wasn't all that convenient to me and you went off on a rather bizarre tangent about "sour grapes", "an ax to grind", yadayada... when it really looks like you have some odd fascination with the developer failing.


Guzzi,
They might be specific on 'beer bar' if it is beer only-that license is a lot cheaper and easier to attain if no liquor is involved-at least, that's the way it used to be.

Look at the date, I'm pretty sure that was just a hilarious response to the thread about the concept from the Farmer's Cabinet people coming to Spring Garden where you accused LIN as having an axe to grind with the management.

[BarryG]

"Beer bar" usually means a bar that focuses on serving a wide selection of craft brews. The Klein piece says they want to have a "wall" of taps. I guess like Irish Pol. It's a theme. Just like the Red Zone is a "sports bar" that just happens to play loud dance music until 2:00am.