The lot on 225 Wythe Avenue has seen businesses, film shoots, and pop-ups come and go, but a new chapter is starting soon.
Longtime owner Sandy Stillman is in contract to sell the lot, according to city records.
Plans to convert the lot into housing have been in the works for at least a decade. Building plans, approved by the city’s Department of Buildings in 2018, show a proposal for the space as a six-story mixed-use building. The space would feature ten apartments. It’s not entirely sure if this is the plan that the developer will pursue—Crain’s NY reports that not much is known about the buyer, an LLC registered at Flushing Avenue in Williamsburg.
“From 1997 to 2010, the roughly 2,000-square-foot structure was occupied by the restaurant Relish, which gave way to the Mexican eatery Cafe De La Esquina from 2011 to 2018,” they write.
After La Esquina closed, Blank Street Coffee opened its first location, a small cafe cart in the garden, in 2020 (it closed last year). The diner also recently played host to a brief Chanel pop-up.
One piece of the lot that’s decidedly not up for grabs? The iconic metal diner structure itself, which Stillman will retain and hopes to preserve.