The powerful people of Park Avenue won’t be munching on plants, beets, and seeds at the opulent new office building at 425 Park Avenue after all.
Eleven The Post has learnt that Jean-Georges Vongerichten is likely to replace Madison Park’s vegan chef Daniel Humm in the company’s recently opened tower between East 55th and 56th Streets.
Although it was never declared or acknowledged, sources say that the widely-publicized transaction with Humm fell through in the latter part of last year.
David W. Levinson, chief executive and co-founder of L&L, and Vongerichten’s organisation are in advanced talks about taking over the 14,000 square foot ground-floor space that was intended for Humm, according to Vongerichten.
The closely monitored tower was built by L&L in collaboration with co-developer and equity partner Tokyu Land Corp. and co-managing partner BentallGreenOak.
Given how well-known all the participants are, it’s astonishing that nothing has come out, but a source claims that they waited until the Vongerichten lease was through.
Regarding the status of anticipated discussions with Vongerichten, Levinson declined to comment. But because of Humm’s ambitions for 425 Park, he claimed that he and Humm “agreed to go our separate ways as friends.”
Levinson added, “I give him huge credit for what he’s done. The world requires it. At 425 Park Avenue, however, we didn’t want a vegan restaurant. We want to create a location that clients will visit frequently throughout the month.
It was a no-brainer not to establish a vegan restaurant at 425 Park Avenue, Levinson said, adding that he wished [Humm] success.
One of the main selling points for the Norman + Partners-designed tower was Humm’s ground-floor restaurant, which was to be called Four Twenty Five.
The building’s website still shows it. Additionally, Humm was supposed to run a cafe for tenants only on one of the office floors.
Vongerichten seemed ecstatic about the upcoming addition of the 55,000 square foot eating and retail complex at the South Street Seaport to his expanding Manhattan business.
Vongerichten said, “It’s a lovely location and it will bring me back to my old neighbourhood,” referring to Lafayette, his first New York restaurant, which was located in the former Drake Hotel on East 50th Street.
With 331,800 square feet in the 670,000 square-foot, 47-story skyscraper, Ken Griffin’s hedge fund Citadel is the anchor tenant at 425 Park, the first full-block office construction to rise on the avenue in more than 50 years.
At 425 Park, smaller leases were also signed by the private equity company Hellman & Friedman, Wafra Capital Partners, and Medical Properties Trust.
Office rentals at 425 Park have reportedly reached $300 per square foot on certain high floors.
A Blackstone-led partnership provided L&L with a $911.4 million finance deal for the tower in December. At the time, L&L stated that the fresh funding would enable it to pay off current construction debt and finish the outstanding work.
Make It Nice, the business owned by Humm, declined to comment on the circumstance.
Even though the New York Times reduced Humm’s EMP from four stars to the equivalent of zero stars in a harsh 2021 review after the paper ceased assigning stars due to the epidemic, the restaurant is still in high demand.
Previous Post
