Reststar Hospitality Group owns several restaurants in New York City and on Long Island, including La P’tite Framboise, a French restaurant in Port Washington. The group’s interest is in food, not real estate, which is why Reststar sold the building where the restaurant is located.
“To use a poker term, we have a group who is looking to take some chips off the table, put some money in their pocket,” said Ron Koenigsberg of American Investment Properties, who oversaw the sale. “Now they don’t own it anymore and can focus on the restaurants.”
The 5,098-square-foot building at 294 Main St., which contains the restaurant on the lower level and two two-bedroom apartments on the upper level, sold for $1.285 million, or $252.05 per square foot. The buyer was MKJK LLC of Garden City.
Koenigsberg was quick to point out that the restaurant would remain open at its current location. When the building was sold, L’Ptite Framboise was given a 10-year lease, followed by two five-year extensions that the tenant can exercise. That means the restaurant can stay at the location through at least 2037.
“In real estate, 20 years is a pretty long period of time,” Koenigsberg said.
He said that it was the upstairs apartments that prompted the sale. Reststar no longer wanted to deal with the hassle of renting them out.
But the money was also a big part of it. The transaction was an all-cash sale, which Koenigsberg said was pretty rare.
“The buyer just goes ahead and writes a check for (the property),” he said “There is no bank or financing involved.”
Reststar has operated a restaurant at that location since 1991, known as Pomodoro until the name was changed in 2009.
