Warehouse district growth continues
Former industrial buildings located across Broadway from one another in the city’s warehouse district are expected to bring additional life to the area’s already busy dining and bar scene.
The Copper Crow, fully open for only two weeks before a mid-january flood shuttered it for months of renovation, will reopen July 15, said owner Jason Pierce, who also owns Savoy Taproom on Lark Street.
Burst pipes caused the Jan. 16 flood that sprayed an estimated 65,000 gallons of water throughout the restaurant and bar, located in a 904 Broadway building that previously was home to two Irish bars: Molly O’bryans, which lasted from August 2019 until the pandemic hit seven months later, and Graney’s Stout for eight years before that.
Pierce said Monday the damage totaled about $225,000, with another $140,000 in lost revenue and other costs. He said he has received about half of what he is owed by insurance companies and expects full compensation to take several more months.
The interior is essentially the same, with minor modifications made to reflect deficits identified while The Copper Crow was open, starting with takeout in November, abbreviated days and hours in December and an official launch on New Year’s Eve. The staff has been retained and will number up to 50 by the time it reopens, including head chef Tim Gates and sous chef Kevin F.X. Callahan, Pierce said. The eclectic international menu will be largely similar to preflood offerings, which included a mix of Asian (Thai beef noodles), American (smoked-bluefish croquettes), Latin (Venezuelan asado negro) and Middle Eastern (roasted eggplant with yogurt tahini, sumac and pomegranate).
Hours will be from 5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday, with weekday closing around midnight, later on Friday and Saturday, closed Sunday and Monday.
Also on Monday, the new owner of 897 Broadway, across from The Copper Crow, said he hopes to bring in a new operator, preferably one intent on opening a brewpub. Five years ago, the large building was renovated into an industrial-style restaurant space, but two concepts failed there in quick succession.
Developer Brian Pollock, who already owned an office building at 915 Broadway, recently finalized the purchase of 897 Broadway, vacant for more than two years since the short-lived noware pint & plate, which failed at the beginning of the pandemic, about six months after changing its name from Vintage, a restaurant and wine bar that had been open for the year and a half prior.
The building previously was the longtime home of a moving company and, before that, a repair facility for commercial trucks. Noting the high, barrelvaulted ceiling, steel mezzanine installed over the large bar, interior courtyard with fire pit, commodious private-event room and about 70 seats for dining at tables and booths, Pollock said, “It would be perfect for a brewery.”
Given the recent dormancy, Pollock said his first priority is assessing two-plus years of deferred maintenance, followed by a thorough cleanup to prepare for showing to potential operators interested in leasing the building for a restaurant venture. The physical space and equipment remain in good condition, given their relatively limited use during the tenures of Vintage and no-ware, Pollock said.
Despite the striking design of the space, the presence of veteran operators and quality names in the kitchen, Vintage never really established an identity for itself. It was founded by Mike Graney of Graney’s sports bar on New Scotland Avenue in Albany and the aforementioned Graney’s Stout, which is now, of course, The Copper Crow.
Graney and minority partners closed Vintage in February 2019, after 13 months, intending to transition it to management of and then ownership to Dave Camacho, who owns Risotto on Northern Boulevard near Memorial Hospital in Albany. It officially emerged as no-ware pint & plate in August 2019 but seems to have been a pandemic victim, with the last online reviews filed in early 2020.
If a brewpub or other restaurant opens at 897 Broadway, it will again be part of a growing warehouse district that already has a busy bar scene and will be further bolstered by the return of The Copper Crow and two recently announced large development projects that will bring at least five businesses and 350 apartments to the area, including the redevelopment of the Huck Finn furniture store building and its surrounding property.