Restaurateurs, bar owners flock to Bed-Stuy

Successful New York City restaurateurs, with trendy outposts already established in Manhattan and trendy Brooklyn spots like Williamsburg, are now turning their establishments eastward, to the Bedford-Stuyvesant area.

A growing number of such business owners are viewing Bed-Stuy as a wise investment, picking up new properties in the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood.

Among the newcomers to open last year were Olivia, a rock venue at 1073 Atlantic Avenue owned by Mo’s founder Calvin Clark and Mexican eatery Oaxaca Taqueria at 1116 Bedford Avenue — the latest location for a restaurant with locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

“It’s just a neighborhood that’s full of possibilities,” Clark told DNAinfo. “As the neighborhood is changing, people are demanding more restaurants, bars, more amenities.”

Bed-Stuy is still a bargain for expanding restaurateurs, with little change in commercial real estate prices despite climbing residential rents. Bedford Hall, for example, rents for about half Mo’s 1,000-square-foot spot in Fort Greene, despite being three-times the size. [DNAinfo] — Julie Strickland