Casa Ventura, Loli's Taqueria on The Market

It's been a sad state of affairs for years on the corner of Seventh Avenue and Third Street, as one restaurant after another has tried to give it a go and failed. The most recent occupant of the space, Casa Ventura, opened with much hoopla and generally good reviews a little over a year ago, and even though it was run by well-intentioned locals, it's been closed more often than not lately, and has been placed on the market for a monthly rent of $9,500 (the listing actually uses photos that I took during their opening party and included in the article linked to above). It also mentions that it's back on the market after a previous deal fell through.

Several of Casa Ventura's owners opened Loli's Taqueria just about a month ago, and that space is already on the market as well. Even though it was generally well-liked and inexpensive,  the off-the-main-drag location of Sixth Avenue and 7th Street didn't do it any favors, and it's also only been open very sporadically lately. It's on the market for a rent of about $4,000 per month.

While there's no such thing as a "cursed" space, it's certainly been incredibly challenging to find a winner for either of these two storefronts.

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Citi Home Lending Center Coming to 200 Seventh Avenue

Many thanks to a tipster for sending over the above photo, of what looks like the next tenant to take over the storefront at 200 Seventh Avenue, between Second and Third Streets. The last occupant of the space was MetLife Home Loans, and oddly enough this appears to be the exact same type of niche business but from a different company.

This building has an interesting history. It's been the longtome home and studio of artist Mark Ravitz, who hung sculpted "drips" out of the windows for over 30 years. The ground floor has been occupied by a bookstore and his pop-up gallery, and the building has been vacant since a fire ripped through it in November of last year (MetLife moved out about nine months prior to that). It's been undergoing repairs since then, and this seems like the first step towards its recovery. No word on whether Ravitz, or his drips, will return.

Odd that over a year after one home loan office moved out, another one moved in, but so be it.

Le Pain Quotidien to Open Tomorrow

Le Pain Quotidien, the Belgian "bakery and communal table" chain, will be opening tomorrow in the space that was last home to Moutarde, on the corner of Fifth and Carroll, according to a sign that went up over the weekend.

Reps from the company, which have 185 locations in 17 countries, confirmed the rumor that they were moving to the neighborhood in March, and the location was confirmed via a Craigslist post shortly afterwards. Construction moved pretty quickly after that, and after a paint job and interior renovation they're ready to open.

It looks like the front room will sell to-go items, coffee, and packaged goods, and the back room, which seats about 35, will have the communal table as well as some other seating.

It's best known as a breakfast and lunch spot, with a menu that includes pastries, muffins and other baked goods, soups, salads, tartines, and quiche.

Premier Care Coming to Sushi Tatsu Space on Flatbush

The neighborhood's second Premier Care urgent care center will be opening in the space that was last occupied by Sushi Tatsu, at 347 Flatbush Avenue between Carlton and Sterling. The storefront has been vacant since August of 2011.

Premier Care has another location on Fifth Avenue between Seventh and Eighth Streets, which opened in July 2012. These urgent care centers, which handle everything from colds to broken bones, cuts, and minor burns, are a good alternative to the emergency room when it's a non-emergency, as there's always a doctor on hand and they accept just about all types of insurance and also treat the uninsured. There are currently about a half-dozen other locations of Premier Care, most of which are in Long Island.

Places like this are good to have around, especially when there are kids in the house. It'll obviously be much smaller than the Fifth Avenue location, but will probably get just as much business. 

Closed for Business: Lululemon Athletica, 472 Bergen Street

Lululemon, the Vancouver-based high-end athletic clothing shop on the stretch of Bergen Street between Fifth and Flatbush and the brand's only Brooklyn location, closed down last weekend.

The yoga gear "showroom" (smaller than most of its other 200-plus locations), was one of the first shops to move onto this block--which is owned by neighborhood uber-landlord Michael Pintchik--after its full-scale renovation into a high-profile, high-rent retail stretch. It's joined by Bark, Bergen Street Comics, a bike shop, a couple clothing stores (including a maternity shop), Babeland, and Sun in Bloom. Pintchik has always been selective in his choice of tenants, and this stretch is as diverse as any.

Storefront space on this portion of the block doesn't open up too often, so it'll be interesting to see what comes into this space next. As for Lululemon, there are eight other locations in Manhattan, and they'll soon be opening a location much further down the street, on the corner of Bergan and Smith.